


The Dementor's First Kiss

by dark_pookha



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Community: HPFT, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-03
Updated: 2016-05-09
Packaged: 2018-06-06 03:18:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 38,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6735907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dark_pookha/pseuds/dark_pookha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><img/> Banner by FantasyDreamer from TDA</p><p>Luna is kissed by a Dementor at the Battle of Hogwarts, and is now acting strange...well, stranger anyway.  A Harry/Luna story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Battle of Hogwarts

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first chaptered fanfic, and I'm going to present it here in its original form, warts and all. This was written circa 2008. I still like the plot, but cringe at some of the writing. I have been working on a re-write of this for some time, but it is stalled.

_The hunger had returned.  Hunger was never sated long.  This battle had brought such feasting, but still the hunger lurked.  Suddenly, coming from the building, there is one whose despair and fear can be tasted.  I can feel my siblings on all sides as I glide up to it._

“Expecto Patronum!” 

  

_The feeble Patronus that the human had produced was no more than a small sting; it would not prevent me from feeding on its soul.  I **would** have it and the hunger would be sated for now.  I glide up to it and am ready to feed.  Its despair is a delicious taste, how much more than most of those here.  It had seen death and destruction firsthand and I will make it taste the despair over and over again as I devour it._

“EXPECTO PATRONUM!” 

“EXPECTO PATRONUM!” 

“EXPECTO PATRONUM!” 

  

_The pain of being hit with three full Patronuses at once.  The indescribable pain of those happy memories.  The hunger now arose full force, but could not be sated.  Patronuses on each side hemming me in.  Falling on me, tearing me apart.  I have to escape.  Using my final reserves, I burst out of the mound covering me and glide back to the edge of the woods._

            _As I watch, the humans talk for a while, then the one I wanted moves off with the others standing guard.  Frustrated, I cannot follow._

_Wait, one of the humans is following, separating from the others.  I will feed on it, devour its soul, send it screaming into the darkness forever.  The torment it would experience would be everlasting._

“There’s one right in the edge of the forest here,” it says. 

  

_I pounce before it has time to react more strongly, putting my mouth over its, I can feel its soul pouring out.  Something is wrong, the memories, the despair and anguish aren’t coming.  Instead, horrible burning pain, like having a Patronus injected directly into my mouth.  NO! This is wrong, it cannot be happening like this! How can any human resist me?  I am Dementor! **I** am being devoured now, flowing into the human’s body._

_How can this beeee…_

"Luna, Luna, are you okay" 

      The voice came from a long way away, slowly, she recognized it as Dean's.  

"Dean, what happened?  The last thing I remember was looking for the Dementor that got away." 

"I, I don't know, Luna", he stammered, "I saw a Dementor giving you the Dementor's kiss from over by the castle, but by the time I arrived here to help out, it had disappeared." 

"Dean, we had best return to the castle and help out in there, I think soon it will all be over.  I saw Harry heading toward Voldemort's encampment in the Forbidden Forest." 

      Dean grabbed her hand and helped her up and together they returned to the castle.  Neither spoke as Dean let Luna lean on him.  She seemed strangely even more pale and frail than she had just moments ago.  He could still see Lavender's still twitching body and vowed it would not happen to Luna. 


	2. Another Funeral

All of the ceremonies and funerals had drained Harry of his energy.  Receiving the Order of Merlin after attending the funerals of his friends and mentors seemed wrong.  He felt empty receiving the medal and plaque.  Even now, he could barely remember stumbling through the acceptance speech Hermione had written for him. All the adulation pressed on him by admirers who before might have thought him crazy for daring to warn them of Voldemort’s return felt like so much fake praise.  He longed more than anything for all the funerals and ceremonies to be done with so he could spend his summer recovering at the Burrow.  “ _Just two more funerals to go_ ”, he thought to himself, “ _just got to make it through Tonks’ and Remus’ joint service and then Fred’s.”_

  

Finally, the service for Lavender ended.  Harry made small talk with the assembled witches and wizards then he mouthed some platitude he would never remember later to her parents about Lavender’s noble sacrifice.  As soon as possible without seeming rude, he made his excuses, left the small chapel for the vestibule and was attempting to Disapparate back to the Burrow; when he was stopped by the simple expedient of having his wand arm grabbed. 

  

“Leaving so soon, Harry?” asked the dreamy voice of Luna.  

  

“Yeah Luna, I’ve got to return to the Burrow and start helping the Weasleys with their arrangements for Fred’s service.” 

  

“Harry, you’re probably tired of everyone saying that you can talk to them about how you feel, but you know that any time you need someone to talk to about how you feel, you can talk to me.  I would love it if you came and visited my father and me later this summer.  You could help us replant the Dirigible Plums.” 

  

Harry felt a great surge of warmth at Luna’s compassion.  Somehow she always understood what he was feeling.  Somehow she always knew the right thing to say.  Never demanding, never needing, never prying, just being his friend. 

  

“Thanks, Luna. I’m glad your father survived his imprisonment and wasn’t killed by the Death Eaters.  I’m sure that Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and I will visit you sometime later this summer.  We’ve all got to decide whether we’re going to return to Hogwarts and finish out our missed seventh year.” 

  

“Harry, I wish you would come back. We could all be in seventh year together.” 

  

“I… I don’t know for sure yet, Luna.  Hogwarts has been my real home for six years, but there are too many memories there now.  I might just finish up by correspondence.” 

  

“Whatever you decide, Harry, I’m sure you’ll make the right choice.” 

  

            Luna suddenly grabbed him in fierce embrace and whispered right into his ear, “And I’m sure it will involve doing what’s right for your true love.”  

  

Harry stood there shocked as Luna disentangled herself from his arms and watched as she walked back into the chapel.  “ _Just another weird statement from Luna, nothing to worry about”,_ he thought as he turned to Disapparate.   With a large crack, he appeared in the kitchen of the Burrow where Mrs. Weasley was waiting for him.  

  

“Oh Harry, sit down and have some hot chocolate”, she exclaimed.  “You didn’t return with Ron and Hermione?” 

  

“No, Mrs. Weasley, they were still making their rounds at the service.  Ron knew Lavender better than the rest of us, and Hermione won’t leave Ron’s side now.” 

  

“Harry, I hate to ask this of you, but have you heard about George’s plan for Fred’s funeral?” 

  

“Yeah, he’s planning some kind of wake, I guess.” 

  

“Harry, do you think that’s appropriate now, with so many other people losing their loved ones?” 

  

“Mrs. Weasley, I can’t think of anything more appropriate.  We’ve got to start celebrating what we **do** have left, and loving those who are still around.” 

  

            Strangely though, as he said those words he wasn’t thinking of Ginny’s cute smile and flaming hair, but rather the delicate oval of Luna’s face. 

 


	3. Harry's Angst

Harry woke up the next day with a feeling of dread.  With Tonks’ and Remus’ joint service to look forward to in the morning and Fred’s wake to go to in the evening, it looked to be a busy day full of people asking about his feelings and wanting to talk to him about his defeat of Voldemort.  “ _Why can’t people just leave me alone and leave me to my own grief.  I don’t need all this intrusion.  I don’t need to explain myself to everyone.”_ Sighing to himself, he got up quietly to avoid waking Ron.  

 

            He walked down to the kitchen, expecting to find it empty but was surprised to see George trying to work an obviously bodged together espresso maker.  

 

            “Why don’t you use your wand to make coffee like your mother does?” asked Harry.  

 

            George jumped at the unexpected entrance.  George recovered quickly and spoke as he kept fiddling with the dials on the espresso maker, “I’ve never gotten the hang of conjuring food from raw ingredients, and trust me Harry, you wouldn’t want to drink my coffee.  Now, let’s see if that’s got this thing working.”  He twisted the dial on the leftmost side one quarter turn and pushed a button on the front right by the nozzle.  A horrible gurgling came from deep within the machine somewhere. The noise stopped.  Suddenly a horrible, foul-smelling, amber coloured liquid squirted directly into George’s crotch, completely missing the mug perched under the nozzle.  

 

            “ARRRGGGHHH!!” screamed George, with a volume that Harry had only heard from him on the Quidditch pitch.  “Damned  thing!  Why did Dad ever fish you out of that Muggle’s garbage?  I’ll teach you to squirt me!”

 

            Harry watched astonished as George pulled out his wand, pointed at the espresso maker and shouted, “ _Disreparo_!”  The espresso machine fell very gently into a heap of its components, oozing a puddle of half-done coffee that looked disturbingly like urine.  

 

            Mrs. Weasley came running down the steps into the kitchen in her nightgown with her wand out.  Seeing no immediate danger, she lowered her wand, surveyed the scene before her and asked, “George, are you o.k.?”

 

            “NO!  I’M NOT FUCKING O.K!” he shouted as he stormed off up the stairs in the direction of the bedrooms.

 

            “Oh dear, Harry, could you please clean up the mess in here?” she asked as she bustled about the kitchen, picking up a clean mug and digging out some instant coffee from the pantry.  “I’m going to go talk to George, he’s been under a lot of stress lately, trying to organize Fred’s wake and manage the joke shop.”  She didn’t wait for a response from Harry before walking away, incanting, “ _Aguamenti Caldo_ ,” quietly, producing a gentle stream of hot water into the mug. 

 

            Harry set about cleaning up the mess with some towels he found in the cupboard by the sink.  He felt a bit strange about what he had just witnessed, never having seen George swear like that before.  Even when George and Fred attacked Malfoy and his cronies after the Quidditch match, he hadn’t sworn like that.  Harry didn’t realize until that moment that his grief wasn’t the strongest and most immediate.  George had lost a twin, someone closer than the friends and mentors that Harry had lost.  George had almost literally lost half of himself. 

 

            Harry had just finished cleaning up the puddle around the broken machine and on the floor when Ginny, came walking down the stairs.  Even dressed in pajamas with cartoon penguins on them and with her flaming hair still rumpled from sleep, she still looked lovely to Harry.  They hadn’t talked much lately: another thing that filled Harry  with regret.  He kept putting off talking to Ginny, not knowing how to approach her about continuing what they had started.  So many things had changed, and she had her own grief to contend with, that he simply felt like he was intruding on her feelings.  Lost in his thoughts, he realized that Ginny was looking at him quizzically and that he must not have heard her asking him a question.

 

            “Sorry, Ginny, I was wool-gathering.  What did you ask?”

 

            “I asked what happened here.  Did one of Dad’s crazy Muggle machines blow up again?”

 

            “Er, something like that.  George was trying to make espresso and when it squirted hot coffee on him, he destroyed it with a spell.  Your Mum went off to help him out, I’ve never seen him so worked up.”

 

            “Honestly, Harry, you’d think Mum never showed him how to make coffee with his wand.  I guess he’s got a lot on his mind lately.  Since Mum’s off with George, why don’t you help me make breakfast?  Everyone else will be up soon.”

 

            The next half hour went by in a blur of cooking bacon, eggs, oatmeal and toast.  Harry had never before tried cooking with his wand, and was amazed at Ginny’s ability to multi-task.  She was able to watch a griddle full of bacon, pour orange juice precisely into glasses, and make coffee at the same time.  Harry barely had the bread toasted by the time that Ginny was done with the rest of the meal.  Ginny even had the good grace not to laugh when Harry set the oatmeal on fire trying to heat it, although from the way her eyes were crinkling it was a struggle. Harry realized how comfortable he was with Ginny, working next to her, just being near her, and he resolved to talk to her more about their relationship tomorrow, after all the funerals were done with.

 

            Ron wandered down the stairs, with Hermione following behind, her bushy brown hair even more bushy from sleep.  Ron’s eyes brightened when he saw breakfast ready. 

 

            “Excellent, Ginny, you did this all yourself?  I know that Harry couldn’t have done any of this.  He can’t even boil water,” laughed Ron.

 

            “I’ll have you know, Ronald Weasley, that Harry made the toast and oatmeal.”

 

            “Yeah, and I only lit the oatmeal on fire once,” Harry muttered.

 

            They were all still laughing and stuffing their faces when Mr. Weasley came down with Mrs. Weasley and George following closely behind.  

 

            “Thank you for making breakfast, Ginny.  I really appreciate the extra help you’ve been giving me lately,” said Mrs. Weasley.  “We really need to all get fed, bathed and ready to go to the Lupins’ service.  Arthur has arranged Ministry cars for us all today, and an escort of Aurors. We received word that there might be a disturbance at the service.”

 

            The rest of the morning passed in a flurry of activity.  Harry barely remembered bathing and getting dressed in his best black robes.  When they had all gathered and were waiting for the cars to arrive, Harry couldn’t help but feel his melancholy return.  They all looked so somber standing around like a murder of crows waiting to feast on a carcass.  Even Ginny, who almost never cried looked a little red around the eyes.  The cars arrived and picked them up without incident.  The two Aurors in Harry’s car fascinated him.  One was a large raw-boned man about fifty with close-cropped grey hair, wearing the tartan of a regimental Scot.  The other was a very thin nervous young man of about twenty-five, with very dark skin, eyes, and hair.

 

            “Now Harry,” said the large Scot in a surprisingly deep voice with a strong Scottish burr, “I hear from your professors at Hogwarts that you might want to become an Auror someday.”

 

            “That’s right, sir.  I still want to hunt down the remaining Death Eaters and bring them to justice.  All of the witches and wizards claiming they were under the _Imperius_ curse can’t be telling the truth.  Some of them truly had to be Death Eaters.”

 

            “Son, my name is Conner MacKinnon and I’m the new head of the Aurors.  Contact me when you’ve finished your seventh year and we’ll put you through the testing.”

 

            “Thank you, sir; I don’t want any special treatment because of what I did.  I want to be evaluated just like anyone else, on my merits, not because I was The-Boy-Who-Lived, or The-Destroyer-of-Voldemort.”

 

            The rest of the ride passed in an uncomfortable silence.  Finally, they arrived at the small chapel near Andromeda’s house where Ted Tonks had been laid to rest several days before.  Harry waited for the two Aurors to make sure the area was secure before getting out, earning an approving nod from MacKinnon.  

 

            The inside of the chapel was stuffy with the morning heat and the press of bodies inside it.  All the surviving members of the Order of the Phoenix were there, along with a group of young people who must be Aurors who had worked with Tonks.  There were also a surprising number of Hogwarts students there to say goodbye to Remus.  Harry’s eyes were drawn to Teddy fussing in the arms of his grandmother.  “ _Another child with no parents,”_ thought Harry.  He couldn’t help but blame himself for that fact.  “ _It’s my fault that Tonks and Remus died.  It’s my fault that Teddy has to grow up with no parents just like I did.  I promise to be the best godfather I can be, to be there for you Teddy.”_

A wizened old wizard stood up in front of the caskets and began to speak.

 

            “We are gathered here today to pay our respects to two people who made a difference.  Nymphadora Lupin and Remus Lupin lived their lives with a respect for everyone.  They died protecting the world from evil beyond imagining, fighting for what they believed in.  As long as the forces of right have people who will stand up for what they believe, the forces of evil cannot prevail.  Nymphadora Tonks was born a Metamorphmagus, and was able to use her natural talents to become an Auror, sworn to protect the wizarding world from the Dark Arts.  Remus Lupin survived a werewolf attack, battling with the baser nature of the beast that lurked within him, and managed to become a good man anyway.  He taught our young wizards and witches how to defend themselves, and without his teachings, there would be many fewer of our children still living.  But Nymphadora’s and Remus’ greatest gift is there in the hands of his grandmother.  Children are our greatest gift, we can teach them to carry on, support them in their endeavors, and teach them the difference between wrong and right.  It will be our children who ensure the safety of the world after we are dust.”

 

            Several other people spoke briefly, but Harry was distracted watching Teddy in the arms of Andromeda.  Teddy was awake and watching the proceedings with a quiet intensity quite unlike a baby.  As Harry watched, Teddy’s hair changed from black to light brown and his eyes lightened from hazel to a very piercing light green.  It was only at the viewing later, as Andromeda shuffled by the caskets that Teddy began to cry.  

 

            The rest of the service passed without incident and they all shuffled into the cars to return to the Burrow.  Conner and the other Auror guarded the perimeter until everyone was safely in the cars and then leapt in and they sped away.  

 

            “Looks like our information about a disturbance was false,” stated Conner.  “Better safe than sorry though with that many Ministry officials and children there.”

 

            Harry just nodded and looked out the window, sinking in grief.

 

            As soon as they arrived back at the Burrow, George tore off his black robes revealing jeans and a T-shirt beneath that read “Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes.”  “I’ve got to leave for Hogsmeade right away to finalize preparations.  Make sure you’re all there at 6 o’clock.”  With a loud crack, he turned and disapparated.  

 

            Harry changed out of his robes and into jeans and a plain yellow T-shirt, then went out to the garden and sat with his back to a large rock.  He was still sitting there brooding when Ron and Hermione approached, holding hands.

 

            “Harry, Ron and I have been talking and after Fred’s wake, we’re going to Australia to retrieve my parents.  We were wondering if you wanted to come along too?”

 

            “When are you leaving?”

 

            “We’re going to leave next Tuesday; I’ve already arranged it with the Ministry to provide a portkey to Melbourne.  They’ve arranged it with the Australian Ministry to help me find them and reverse the memory charms.”

 

            “I-Hermione, I don’t think I should go.  I’ve got a lot to do here,” Harry said, thinking of Ginny.  “I need to clean up Grimmauld Place and decide what to do about seventh year.”

 

            “Oh Harry, Ron and I have decided about that, too,” Hermione stated softly, turning a bright shade of pink and looking at the ground embarrassed.  “We’ve decided to get a flat together in London and finish by correspondence while I start university.  I'm going to study Muggle law, then study Wizarding law.”          

 

            Ron interjected, “Yeah mate, I’m going to help George out with the shop while I finish up by correspondence as well.  Ginny’s going to help him out while I’m gone to Australia this summer.”

 

            “AND WHY DIDN’T YOU ASK ME ABOUT ANY OF THIS BEFORE YOU MADE YOUR PLANS.  I MIGHT HAVE WANTED TO KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU TWO WERE DOING BEFOREHAND!” Harry shouted.

 

            Ron spoke soothingly, “Look Harry, you haven’t exactly been approachable lately.  You’re always sitting outside by yourself, or closed up in my room.  We had no idea how you’d react, but we’ve got to do this for ourselves.  We’re still your friends, and always will be, but sometimes you make it bloody hard.”

 

            Harry got up, brushed himself off and stalked off out of the Burrow.  He could hear Hermione’s voice as he walked away, asking Ron, “Do you think we should follow him?”  He also heard Ron’s reply as he opened the garden gate, “No Hermione, let him be.  We’ll see him at Fred’s wake tonight, and hopefully we can get him to have a good time for a while.”


	4. A Visit to the Lovegoods

      Harry wandered away from the Burrow seething.  “ _How dare they betray me like that?  Making plans behind my back, sneaking around.  They don’t care about anyone else now that they’ve got each other.  I don’t need them either: let them go to_ _Australia_ _together, let them shack up.  I’ll go find my own way.”_ Lost in his thoughts, he hadn’t paid attention to where he had walked and found himself lost near what he thought was the outskirts of Ottery St. Catchpole.  He knew he could always Apparate away, but was curious to see more of the town.  When he had passed through it with Ron and Hermione, he hadn’t really looked at the town, caught up in the chase for information on the symbol that Luna’s father had worn to Bill’s wedding.  

 

            Harry set off swiftly in the direction that he thought led to the town, but soon had to admit to himself that he was hopelessly lost.  Coming to a crossroads, he chose the path that led up a hill, figuring he could use the higher vantage point to get his bearings.  He quickly realized that this path was incorrect, but it seemed familiar somehow, so he continued on for a bit.  Coming around a bend in the path, he remembered why it looked familiar.  This was the path that led to Luna’s house.  Harry quickened his pace even further, his anger dissipating.  Soon, Luna’s house came into view.

 

            The strange house looked much the worse for wear, with a large hole still in its side from the exploding Erumpent horn, and the gardens that had been so neatly tended were overgrown with weeds.  As he neared the house, he saw a figure kneeling in the garden and could hear the figure singing a song from _Fiddler on the Roof,_ a Muggle musical, “Matchmaker, matchmaker make me a match.”  The voice definitely belonged to Luna.  As he got nearer, he could see her more clearly.  She had her back to him and was kneeling with a trowel, digging at the soil.  Her jeans were muddy, like she had been sitting in the mud, she was wearing a man’s tank top undershirt, and had a boater on her head covered in fishing flies.  Harry approached stealthily, attempting to surprise her, figuring she could never hear him over her own singing.  

 

            When Harry had snuck up to about ten feet away, she said, without turning around, “Hello Harry, what brings you out my way?”

 

            “How’d you know I was here, Luna?”

 

            Luna turned and pierced him with a penetrating gaze.  “I can always tell when you’re near me.  You could no more sneak up on me than a Crumple Horned Snorkack could,” she told him.

 

            Luna’s entire front side was covered in mud as well, and her wet shirt clung to her skin.   Luna noticed Harry’s gaze and arched her eyebrows at him.  Harry looked away embarrassed, and spoke, “I-I was wandering near the town, got lost and found my way here.”

 

            “Come on in, Harry, you can talk to my Dad and Dean while I change into some clean clothes.” 

 

            “Dean’s here?”

 

            Luna grabbed Harry’s hand and started dragging him off toward the house.  “Yep, Dean is going to stay the summer here.  His Mum’s missing, and he couldn’t face living alone in his house, so he’s going to stay here with Daddy and me to help rebuild our house, replant our Dirigible Plums, and help Daddy run the Quibbler.”

 

            “So, Er, are you and Dean a couple now?” Harry asked, with a streak of jealousy rising in him.  His emotions were a confused mess.  “ _Why would I be jealous of Dean and Luna?”_ he thought to himself.  

Luna paused a moment before replying, stopped in her tracks and looked Harry directly in the eyes, “Would it bother you if I told you that, yes, Dean and I are a couple?”

 

            Harry blinked, felt himself getting a little red and lied, “No Luna, not at all.  I only wish you both the best.”

 

            Luna gave a girlish laugh, slapped him playfully on the cheek and said, “Harry, you’ve never been a good liar.  Why does it bother you to know that I’m with Dean?”

 

            “Luna, I don’t know.  I’ve been trying to start over with Ginny, but things keep getting in the way.  All these funerals and ceremonies don’t give me much time to talk with her privately.  Also, everywhere I go in the Burrow, Ron and Hermione are right there, watching me.  It’s like they’re afraid to let me out of their sight.”

 

            Luna dropped his hand and started walking back to the house, waiting for Harry to catch up before she spoke in a quiet voice, “Do you think you might be having trouble with Ginny because she might not be the one?”

 

            “The one what?” he asked.

                        

            “Your true love,” she said simply.  “You should think about that.  Is Ginny the one that you dream about, the one you want to wake up to every morning?  Is Ginny the one that understands you and loves you unconditionally?  Are you the right one for Ginny?  Will you nurture her gifts, give her all the love and attention she needs?  She’s my friend and I only want what’s best for her.”

 

            They reached the house and Luna shouted into the open door, “Daddy!  Harry Potter’s come to visit!”  Turning to Harry, she told him, “Go ahead and go upstairs and wait for me there.  Daddy and Dean will be there.”  Luna turned and headed for her room at the back of the house.  Harry went up the stairs and found himself confronted by a snarling lion.  Overcoming his surprise, he skirted the stuffed lion and continued into the sitting room.  “ _Calling this a mess would be charitable,”_ he thought.  There were boxes and crates of building materials everywhere in the room.  Hearing voices from behind a large crate of lumber, he worked his way carefully through the mess.  As he came around a crate, he could see Mr. Lovegood and Dean wrestling a large building stone into position in the wall.  After what seemed an eternity of finagling and making small adjustments they got the block positioned correctly, Mr. Lovegood pulled out his wand, pointed it at the block and incanted, “ _Collopetrus_.”   Mortar immediately filled the spaces around the stone, joining it to the rest of the wall. 

 

            Harry cleared his throat, causing both Mr. Lovegood and Dean to jump.  Dean almost fell out the hole in the side of building, but was saved by the quick reflexes of Harry grabbing his shoulder.  Dean looked relieved to see Harry, but Harry couldn’t tell if it was just being saved from a nasty fall or something else.  

 

            “You must be Harry Potter, it’s good to finally meet you.” declaimed Mr. Lovegood as he clapped his hand on Harry’s back.  Dean stepped forward, shook Harry’s hand and told him, “Yeah, good to see you, mate.”

 

            Harry thought for a moment confused.  Then he remembered:  The first time he’d met Mr. Lovegood, he was disguised as a Weasley and the second time they met, Hermione had hit him with a Memory Charm afterward.  “Good to see you both as well.  I was in the area, saw Luna in the front garden and decided to visit.  I’m surprised I didn’t see any of you at the Lupins’ funeral service this morning.”

 

            “Sorry Harry, but we had to go make sure all these building materials were properly delivered, you know how contractors will rip you off if you let them, it’s a well known conspiracy.”  Mr. Lovegood continued on, barely pausing for a breath, “Besides, according to my horoscope, I should not undertake any social calls today.  Why don’t we all go down and get a cup of tea?”

 

            They all turned and walked back to the small seating area crammed into the kitchen and found Luna already preparing tea.  Miraculously, she was clean of mud and dressed now in a bright saffron coloured robe, with her wand tucked up behind her ear.  Harry was distracted by how her unbound hair caught the light and made her look as if she had a halo.  When she moved her head, he heard a light tinkling coming from her radish shaped earrings, as if they had small bells in them now.  Harry noticed Dean looking at him out of the corner of his eye.  Instead of looking angry at the way Harry was staring at Luna, Dean looked relieved.

 

            They all took tea (disgusting herbal tea again from Luna’s Dad), and made small talk about the weather, the state of the Ministry and the possibility of getting another Crumple Horned Snorkack horn to replace the one that supposedly blew up.  After about an hour, Mr. Lovegood stood up and declared, “Well boys, that was a nice rest break, but I’ve got to get back to work or vampires will fly in through that open hole.  Luna, you should probably be getting ready for the wake.”

 

            “O.K. Daddy.  Harry, Dean, I’m going to go get ready, why don’t you boys catch up?”

 

            As soon as both Luna and Mr. Lovegood had left, Dean bent over the table and whispered conspiratorially into Harry’s ear, “Look, get the hell out of here while you can.  They’re both around the bend.”  Harry looked shocked at Dean, and whispered back, “What do you mean?  I know Luna’s a bit strange, but she’s not dangerous.”

 

            “She’s a nutter, Harry.  So’s her Dad.  These are two of the most mental people I’ve ever seen.  If I had anywhere else to go I would.  You should escape before Luna sets her sights on you too.”

 

            “What are you talking about, Dean?  Luna’s O.K.”

 

            Dean half-whispered, half-shouted, “She's not alright; she's crazy, cracked, demented!”

 

            Harry looked at Dean and offered, “Dean, you can stay at my place, 12 Grimmauld Place, or I’m sure that the Weasleys would welcome you to stay at the Burrow if you’re so uncomfortable here.”

 

            “Thanks, Harry, I think I’ll head for the Burrow after the wake.  If the Weasleys won’t have me, then I’ll hole up at your place.  You’re a good friend to do that for me.”

 

            “Now tell me, Dean, what’s so bad about staying here?”

 

            “Look Harry, I got close to Luna during D.A. meetings.  She’s always been strange, but in a fun way.  Later at the Shell Cottage, we got even closer, but she hasn’t been the same since that last battle at Hogwarts. Right after we chased those Dementors off you and you went down to He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named’s camp, she got caught by a Dementor.  When I came up to save her with a Patronus, something had already happened to the Dementor.  I would swear I saw it giving her the Dementor’s Kiss, but instead of sucking her soul out, she sucked its soul out.”

            

            “Come on, Dean! You’re telling me she sucked out a Dementor’s soul?” asked Harry.

 

            Dean was about to reply when Luna returned.  She was now wearing jeans with a pink stripe down the side, a pink Hello Kitty T-Shirt, and a matching pink Hello Kitty snood around her hair.  Dean and Harry both looked at her and her outfit speechless.  Luna spoke up, “Hurry up and get ready boys, we’ve only got half an hour until the wake and we need time to get there.”

 

            Harry regained his voice first, “Actually, Luna, I can Apparate so we don’t need to allow time for travel.  I can take Dean first, return here and take you with a side-along Apparition.  Since the invitation for the wake said casual dress, I’m ready.”  

 

            Dean answered, “Thanks Harry, I never did get a chance to pass my Apparition test.”  Dean went off toward the bathroom to change, leaving Harry alone with Luna.

 

            “Like my outfit, Harry?”  Luna asked.  

 

            “I didn’t know they made Hello Kitty hairnets,” Harry replied with a laugh in his voice.  “Your sense of style is certainly unique.”

 

            “Silly, it’s not a hairnet, it’s a snood.  A hairnet’s for wearing in a restaurant’s kitchen.  This is for elegance.”

 

            Dean returned from the bathroom, dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt.  He nodded at Harry, and then told Luna, “See you at the wake, love.”  As Harry was taking his hand to Disapparate, Luna gave Dean a quick kiss and Harry a peck on the cheek.  His cheek burning, Harry Disapparated with Dean.  A gut-wrenching few seconds later, they were in Hogsmeade.  Harry saw Dean off and Disapparated back to Luna’s. Luna was waiting for Harry impatiently, pacing to and fro. When she saw him Apparate back, she jumped into his arms and snuggled her head up into his chest.  Harry wrapped his free arm around her, turned and Disapparated back to Hogsmeade.

 


	5. Fred's Wake

     Harry and Luna appeared on the outskirts of Hogsmeade.  “Which way to the wake, do you think?” asked Harry.  Luna pointed at a sign printed on lurid yellow paper that said, “Weasley Wake Today” and had an arrow pointing off toward the edge of Hogsmeade.  Luna leapt down out of Harry’s arms and they set off together, holding hands as they walked in the direction the arrow were leading them. 

 

            “Harry, do you think I’m crazy?” Luna asked as they walked.

 

            Harry stopped in his tracks, looked her directly in the eyes and said, “No, Luna you’re not crazy, you just see the world differently than any of the rest of us.  I think that I’d like to see the world like you do.  You don’t seem to see the same hate and loss that the rest of us see.”

 

            “If I told you that I was hearing voices would you think I was crazy then?” Luna asked with a quiet voice, lowering her eyes from his.

 

            Harry lifted her chin up with his hand gently until she was looking him in the eyes again.  “Are you hearing voices?”

 

            “Yes.  It’s like a constant quiet whispering at the back of my head, I can’t quite make out the words, but it seems like muffled angry shouting.  I don’t understand, I’m hardly ever angry, but this voice seems to be crying out in pain and anger.”  Luna’s eyes filled with tears.  “I don’t like feeling angry; I would rather look at the world and see the joy in it.”

 

             Harry wrapped his arms around her in a friendly hug and said, “I want to help you see that joy in the world.”  Harry felt strangely light-headed when he touched her, and his stomach lurched.  “ _This is how I used to feel whenever I’d look at Cho._ ”He looked down at the gently weeping Luna in his arms and wondered to himself, “ _Is it possible to love two women at once?_ ”  Harry held her tightly while she cried.

 

            After a couple of minutes like this, Luna lifted her head from Harry’s chest, moved her hands back up behind Harry’s head and pulled him into a passionate kiss.  Harry was surprised at the strength in Luna’s hands as she held his mouth to hers.  Harry was even more surprised at his response to Luna’s kiss.  He wrapped his arms even more tightly about her and began stroking her hair.  “ _Her hair feels just like washed silk.”_   Harry found himself lost in the sensation of her lips on his, her tongue gently brushing his lips and her hands gripping the back of his head.  They were both lost in a world of bliss all their own, when they were rudely interrupted.

 

            Harry felt the rough hand turn him from Luna, but he never saw the fist that connected with chin, or the ground that rushed up to meet him.

 

            “What the bloody Hell do you think you're doing?” bellowed Ron, “Standing right here where anyone can see you, snogging Loony Lovegood!  What if Ginny were to walk by and see you doing that?”  Ron stepped back from Harry, anger blazing in his eyes, his hands trembling.  

 

            Harry groaned, tried to stand, but fell back onto his knees and looked up at Ron and Hermione.  Luna stood just behind Harry with her hands on his shoulder and a worried expression on her face.  Harry shook his head to clear the cobwebs, but that just made him dizzier.  Ron pulled his wand out the back pocket of his jeans, pointed it right at Harry’s nose and said, “I know you’ve had a hard time of it lately, but don't you effing hurt Ginny just because you can't get it together.”  Ron stalked off in the direction that the signs pointed.  Hermione gave Harry a helpless look, leaned over and whispered in his ear, “Harry, do us all a favour and get some help, O.K?  We're all worried about you.  Please, please see a counselor.”  Hermione then rushed to catch up to Ron.

 

            “Harry, are you alright?” asked Luna gently, trying to help him stand.  Harry accepted her help in rising, leaned on her with his arm around her shoulder and said woozily, “I will be when the world stops spinning.”  They continued on the path, following the arrows.  As they approached the outskirts of Hogsmeade near the Shrieking Shack, they were dazzled by scene before them.  

 

            Someone had roped off a large area as big as a Quidditch pitch, at the corners of the ropes were tall lit torches giving off a bright white light.  A small stage had been erected at one end with a podium on it.  Brightly coloured tents had been raised here and there throughout the roped-off area.  People mingled and talked, gathering in clumps.  They saw almost the entire student body of Hogwarts there, with the notable absence of most of the Slytherins.  As Harry and Luna approached an open area in the ropes, they were stopped by the sight of Mrs. Weasley storming out at them.  

 

            “Harry, Ron told me what happened on the road here.  I think you should find somewhere else to stay for a while,” Mrs. Weasley said coldly.  Without waiting for a response, she turned and walked back into the wake.  

 

            “Oh Harry, I never intended any of this to happen,” Luna said in a small voice, “I didn’t mean to get you thrown out of the Burrow, I don’t mean to hurt Ginny, I just can’t help myself.”

 

            “Don’t worry, Luna.  After the wake, we can sit down and talk about what all this means and about the voices you’re hearing.”

 

            As they walked into the ropes, they saw George waving them over.  “We were just waiting for you to get here, Harry.  I’m going to say a few words about Fred, then invite others to speak about him.  I’d like you to speak after I’m done.  Would you be willing to do that?” George asked him, looking curiously at Luna.

 

            Harry felt the same dread he always felt when asked to speak in public, but agreed to speak.  George left, walked the distance of the field, mounted the stage, got behind the podium, raised his wand and prepared to speak.

 

            “ _Sonorus,”_ intoned George. “Hello everybody.  We’re all gathered here today to pay tribute to that greatest of heroes, Fred Weasley.  Fred Weasley was born to greatness, raised in the life of a loving family, and died defending freedom from tyranny.  But there was more to Fred Weasley than just his brooding, heroic side.  Fred lived everyday as if it were it his last, always looking for the humour in any situation.  Fred was proof that a good heart could overcome obstacles.  In a moment, I’m going to invite anyone who wants to talk about Fred to come to the stage and tell about their encounters with Fred’s greatness.  First, I want to share my favourite memory of Fred:  Fred and were in our sixth year at Hogwarts and Hogwarts was suffering under the iron hand of Dolores Umbridge.  Fred and I knew that we would not be returning for our seventh year, as Weasleys’ Wizarding Wheezes was getting ready to be started up.  We knew that a statement needed to be made to rally the students at Hogwarts; we knew that an organized protest among the students would result in reprisals against all of the students, so we took it upon ourselves to make that statement.  Fred came up with the idea for embarrassing Umbridge by making a spectacular exit from Hogwarts. Fred came up with the charm that turned the corridor into a swamp, and Fred came up with most of the charms for our products in our store.  I guess what I’m saying is that I’m glad Fred had the brains and I got the looks.”  George turned his head so his missing ear was clearly visible and waited for the laughter to die down before continuing.  “I would like to ask Harry Potter to come up and say a few words about Fred before opening the stage to anyone else who wishes to speak.  After everyone who wants to has spoken, there will be live music from the band _Giles Cory_.  Feel free to enjoy the open bar and buffet.  Harry, could you come up please?”

 

            Harry mounted the stage with trepidation, not knowing what he’d say.  Harry opened his mouth and the words just tumbled out. 

 

            “Fred Weasley was a good man, a good wizard, and a good friend.  I can honestly say that without the aid of Fred and George Weasley that I would not be alive today.  Fred exemplified the Gryffindor spirit.  His courage in standing up to tyranny should be applauded.  Fred died fighting the Death Eaters and we should stand together to ensure that his death was not in vain.  We also need to see the humour in the world, and in ourselves.”

 

            Harry stepped down from the stage, searching the crowd for Luna as he did so.  He didn’t see her at first, but curiously, he did spot Conner and the dark haired Auror that had ridden in the car with him to the Lupins’ funeral service.  They both looked strange dressed in casual clothing.  He finally spotted Luna sitting at a far table, talking to someone partially hidden behind a tent flap.  Harry’s pulse quickened as he looked at Luna.  He moved quickly through the crowd, pausing a few times to greet friends and well-wishers.  When he finally got to within a few feet of Luna, he could see she was talking to a grim-faced Ginny.

 

            Ginny saw Harry approaching and started to say something, but got cut off by a loud burst of laughter from the crowd surrounding the stage listening to Professor Flitwick recall Fred in his classes.  

 

            “What?” Harry asked, “I couldn’t hear you over the din.”

 

            “I said, Luna told me what happened, you great oaf!  I thought we had an agreement  that we were going to get back together!  I never want to see you again!  I wish that Voldemort had killed you!” Ginny shouted furiously.  Unfortunately, at just that moment the crowd had quieted again to listen to a new speaker and everyone nearby heard Ginny’s outburst.  Heads turned curiously to look as Ginny stormed off with Luna following.  Luna turned to Harry as she was leaving and told Harry, “Don’t worry Harry, I’ll calm her down.”  

 

            Harry had his doubts about whether Luna could calm down Ginny, although Luna usually did have a calming influence on him.  Harry started to track down Neville, but stopped when he saw Ron and Hermione whispering to Neville and looking Harry’s way with pointed glances.  Harry turned to find a quiet corner to sit in and wait for Luna to return when he heard Percy talking to Fleur in an over-loud voice obviously meant for Harry to hear, “I tried telling Mum and Dad that that boy was unstable.  All his Chosen One nonsense, obviously delusions of grandeur.”

 

            Harry was gratified to hear Fleur reply, “’E ees not unstable.  ‘Arry saved the wizarding world from Voldemort, ‘Arry saved my seester.  ‘E ees a great man, just a bit confused right now.”  Harry looked around, trying to find somewhere out of the way where he could just be alone, finally spotting the tent housing the open bar.  Harry made his way into the dark tent, finding it sparsely occupied, he approached the barkeep.  Aberforth looked surprised to see Harry there.

 

            “Firewhiskey, please Aberforth,” Harry requested.

 

            Aberforth set him up with a Firewhiskey.  Harry drained it and demanded, “Another!”  Aberforth looked startled at that, but set him up again.  Again Harry downed it quickly, and then went to sit in the most remote dark corner of the tent that he could find.  He brooded quietly for what seemed an eternity, but what his watch told him was only forty-five minutes, before setting out to see what had become of Luna.  From the opposite end of the field loud, violent post-punk thrash music could be heard.  Harry figured it must be the band and drifted toward the music to see what was going on.  

 

            He watched fascinated as a tall, emaciated, young, blond singer held his wand before him and sang (or more precisely screamed melodically):

 

            _Burning Witches Screaming in Pain, when will the world be safe again?_

_How many die, how many fry?_

_Why can’t we all just pogo, pogo, pogo._

_Purity of Blood, blood of mud,_

_Half-breeds with wands, Muggles with guns,_

_The Dark Lord comes, the Dark Lord comes._

_How many die, how many fry?_

_A chosen one arises, a chosen one surprises._

_The boy who lived, his life he will give._

_Pogo, pogo, pogo._

            Harry tuned out the music at that point, not wanting to listen to anyone sing about him.  He looked around at the dancing crowd of young people around the stage having a good time, lost in their enjoyment of the music and hopefully in their good memories of Fred.  He saw Gabrielle dancing with a boy he didn't recognize and gave her a wave.  She waved backed sheepishly.  Harry felt a cold breeze blow in across the field, shivered and looked up at the torches lining the field. A dark fog was rolling in across the field, approaching with menacing swiftness.

 

            Harry’s instincts took over and he shouted, “WATCH OUT, DEMENTORS ARE MOVING IN!” just as the loud cracks of wizards apparating broke out all around him.  From somewhere near the main stage he heard a harsh voice intone, “ _Morsmordre”._ Harry reached for his wand and prepared to fight as the Dark Mark rose above the wake.

                                   


	6. The Battle of Weasley's Wake

     The Dark Mark rose over the panicked crowd.  The moshing around the stage became frenzied as all the people in it tried to escape all at once.  Harry lost sight of Gabrielle.  The blond singer on stage turned to flee, but was struck with a nasty stunning hex by a masked Death Eater who had just apparated by him.  The masked Death Eater grabbed the singers wand from the stage near the singers still-twitching hand and raised it to his mouth, his amplified voice easily covering the entire field, “Kill all these blood traitors and--” 

 

“ _Expelliarmus_!” 

 

         Both the singer’s wand and the Death Eater’s own wand went arcing gracefully back over his head as Harry struck again with his wand, “ _Petrificus Totallus_!”  The Death Eater on stage toppled over and hit his head on the stairs leading to the stage with a sickening crunch.  

 

            Harry quickly surveyed the situation.  Dementors had ringed the grounds and were slowly closing the circle about all those who remained inside.  Death Eaters had apparated in groups of two or three and were pressing the panicked crowd with well-aimed curses and hexes.  Harry couldn’t see Ron or Hermione from where he stood, but guessed they were behind the bar tent, where he could hear sounds of a pitched battle.  Harry rushed toward the sounds coming from behind the bar tent, taking cover from tables and tents as he went.  As he rounded a corner between tents, he came upon Dean dueling with two Death Eaters in a narrow corridor between tents.  Harry had come up just behind one of the Death Eaters, narrowly avoiding colliding with him.  Harry flicked his wand at the back of the Death Eater he had almost bowled over and incanted, “ _Stupefy!”_  stunning the Death Eater.  At that same time Dean downed the other Death Eater with an Impediment jinx.  

 

            “Thanks, mate!  Let’s get the Hell out of here,” shouted Dean over the din.

 

            “No!  I’m not leaving without Ron and Hermione,” Harry said, grabbing Dean by the elbow and trying to drag him toward the fight behind the bar tent.  Dean jerked away from Harry’s clutches and yelled Harry’s face, “No way!  I’m going to find Ginny and get out of here.”

 

            “Just how are you going to get past that ring of Dementors?  We can’t conjure enough Patronuses to fight them all off.  We’ve gotta fight these bastards together,” Harry grabbed Dean’s arm again and half-dragged him toward the sounds of the battle.

 

            Harry and Dean carefully made their way between the tents.  As they approached the bar tent, it ignited all at once, all over, hit by some unseen hex.  The sounds of battle from behind the tent intensified and Harry clearly heard Ron’s voice shout, “ _Stupefy!”_ Hearing his friend’s voice steeled Harry’s resolve and he stepped from behind the tent into a nightmare.

 

            Hermione’s body lay twitching and blood-covered under Ron’s feet.  Percy lay nearby, apparently dead from the gash on his head that still slowly oozed.  Conner’s body was lying immobile nearby and the strange dark haired Auror was standing back to back with Ron, encircled by six Death Eaters. The bodies of five other Death Eaters lay around the scene, some covered in as much blood as Hermione’s body.  The Auror had an ebony wand in one hand and what looked to be a wand made of bone in the other.

 

 

            “You’ll pay for what you did to Sixto, boy,” growled the Death Eater closest to Ron, raising his wand.  Harry didn’t wait to see what the Death Eater had planned for Ron, and attacked.  He felt a cold rage encompass him as he pointed his wand at the Death Eater, and shouted, “ _Sectumsempra!_ ”  Great bloody gashes opened on the Death Eater’s body as he toppled.  Ron took the opening that Harry had given him, pointed his wand at a Death Eater’s wand and said, “ _Reducto._ ”  The Death Eater’s wand exploded in a shower of splinters, some of them driving into his face.  The dark haired Auror wordlessly slashed his bone wand at one of the Death Eaters at the same time.  Violet fire arced across the Death Eater’s body and he fell immobile with huge smkoing rents in his robes and skin.  With the ebony wand he held in his other hand, the dark haired Auror silently summoned a Shield Charm and prevented a Stunning Curse from hitting Ron.  Dean overcame his shock at the violence, pointed his wand at a Death Eater and incanted, “ _Langlock!_ ”  The Death Eater frantically grabbed for his throat, trying to spit out words to dispel the curse.  The remaining two Death Eaters quickly saw they were now outnumbered and tried to Disapparate.  As the one closest to the dark haired Auror turned to Disapparate, the Auror raised his two wands in an “X” in front of his body and flung them outward in a violent motion.  The Death Eater flew off his feet, careened into the other Disapparating Death Eater and they both shimmered and tried to vanish, but something prevented them.  When the shimmering around the Death Eaters stopped, Harry could see they were splinched together with one’s arm stuck in the other’s chest. Ron stopped the Death Eater with the splinters in his face by simply knocking him unconscious with a hard punch to the face.  The Death Eater that Dean had cursed was lying on the ground, gasping for breath. 

 

            Ron knelt  to touch Hermione’s body.  “Most of this blood isn’t hers!  _Enervate,_ ” Ron said, awakening Hermione.  The Auror was doing the same for Conner, silently.  Harry looked at Percy’s body with regret, “ _Another death at my feet,_ ” he thought.  Dean put his hand on Percy’s neck feeling for a pulse.  “He’s still alive; I’ve got a sluggish pulse!”  Dean shouted.  Dean pointed his wand at the gash on Percy’s head, said something that Harry didn’t hear.  The wound on Percy’s head closed mostly up.  “That’s the best I can do now,” Dean stated simply.  Harry moved to help Conner stand when suddenly Conner shouted, “DOWN HARRY!”  Harry dove for the ground, a huge explosion sounded nearby his head.  When he looked up, he saw the Death Eater that Dean had hit with the Tongue-Tying curse holding a wicked looking knife in his hand.  The Death Eater collapsed, with a bloody hole in his chest,.  Conner held an ugly looking automatic pistol in his hand, barrel still smoking.  He stood, said something to Harry, but all Harry heard was a ringing in his ears.

 

     “I said, I must have dropped my wand when I got stunned!” shouted Conner, grabbing a wand off one of the fallen Death Eaters.  Still shouting loud enough for Harry to hear, Conner said, “Alright we’re going to move to the other end of the pitch near the main stage to provide a rally point.”  He pointed at the other Auror, “Gio, you’re going with Hermione.  Ron, you’re with Harry.  You son,” pointing at Dean, “You’re with me.  Back to back, advance slowly, one of you protecting, the other attacking.  Let’s go!”

 

     They filed slowly out from behind the burning bar tent, making their way to the main stage where a bitter fight was still raging.  From the distance, they could see George, Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley in a tight knot, facing off with Death Eaters on each side. Mr. Weasley was busy repelling curses flung at him and his family. Dementors had broken ranks from the tight circle they had originally formed around the pitch and were administering the Dementor’s Kiss to the fallen protectors.  Harry and Ron both started running toward the fight, with Conner trying vainly to call them back to advance slower. Ron barreled into a Death Eater with a rugby tackle, all thought of using his wand driven out of his head by the danger to his parents and his brother, and pummeled the Death Eater relentlessly.  Harry quickly stunned another Death Eater, and deftly stepped out of the way of an Impediment jinx that was sent back his way.  Mrs. Weasley took the opportunity and immobilized the Death Eater who had tried to jinx Harry.  George pointed his wand at a Death Eater who was trying to curse his father and said, “ _Levicorpus!_ ”  The Death Eater shot upward as if hauled by a rope on his ankle.  As he rose above the level of the tents, he was hit with at least a half-dozen curses from people who were taking cover behind other tents or tables.  George laughed, let him drop, waggled his bum insultingly at the shocked Death Eaters and shouted “Who’s next?”  

 

     Suddenly, the strange Auror was there with Hermione at his side.  While Hermione protected him with Shield Charms, he launched a curse with each of his wands at two separate Death Eaters.  They both fell with thuds.  Seeing Dean and Conner approaching as well, the Death Eaters turned and disapparated.  

 

     Harry’s hearing had started to return enough that he heard Mrs. Weasley ask, “Where’s Ginny?”  

 

     In his haste to rescue Ron and Hermione, Harry had forgotten that Ginny had fled the party and headed out of the field with Luna following.  Harry pointed in the direction of the fields past the music stage and said, “She went that way with Luna following.”  

 

     At just that moment, a large black tent at the far end of the field near where Harry had pointed exploded with a mighty concussion.  The blast flattened everyone standing and warm air passed over them in a shock wave.  

 

     “LOOKS LIKE THEY FOUND THE FIREWORKS!”  shouted George, as everyone was standing.  Dangerous fireworks were now spinning and tumbling across the field, endangering both protectors and Death Eaters.  Only the Dementors seemed unaffected by the fireworks as they passed harmlessly through them.  Harry quickly regained his feet, and started running pell-mell through the burning tents and fireworks toward the end of the field where Ginny and Luna had gone.  Conner tried vainly to call him back.  Dean arose, shook his head and ran after Harry.

 

     As Harry ran, he raised his head to search the edge of the field to see if he could spy Ginny or Luna, but saw only the ring of Dementors guarding the perimeter.  He looked back to see if Dean was still following, but couldn’t see him anywhere.  Suddenly, a bright silvery light shone from beyond the Dementors.  Glowing with a silver sheen, Luna forced her way through the ring of cringing Dementors.  One of the Dementors swooped in front of Luna and just brushed her with the edge of its inky robe.  It vanished in a silvery flash of light, the after-image burning itself into Harry’s eyes.  Ginny followed very closely behind Luna, her red-rimmed eyes wide with fright.  Luna continued unhurriedly toward where Harry stood.  Ginny stumbled over the fallen body of a Death Eater, fell and was swooped over by a Dementor immediately.  At the same time, a fallen Death Eater lifted himself up from prone, levered up onto his elbows, pointed his wand at Luna and started to say, "Ava-"

 

     Time slowed for Harry.  He could save Ginny from the Dementor’s Kiss by summoning a Patronus, but then Luna would be hit by a Killing Curse.  He could save Luna from the Killing Curse, but then Ginny might have her soul destroyed by the Dementor.  Hoping he was making the right choice, Harry flicked his wand at the Death Eater and shouted, “ _Stupefy!_ ”  Time flicked back into normal motion for Harry, and he turned just in time to see the Dementor rising from Ginny’s vacant-eyed body.

 

     “Don’t let that Dementor escape, Harry,” said a voice that was both Luna’s and not Luna’s from somewhere inside the glowing nimbus surrounding her.  

 

     “ _Expecto Patronum,_ ” Harry said, summoning his Patronus.  He harried the Dementor with his stag Patronus by subtly flicking his wand back and forth in front of it.  

 

     “Bring it to me,” commanded the voice that was both Luna’s and not Luna’s.

 

     “I’m trying, but all I can do is prevent it from escaping, I can’t herd it in a particular direction.” Harry grunted; sweat breaking on his brow from the effort of controlling his Patronus.  Harry’s Patronus started losing definition, and he sank to his knees trying to control the shaking in his hand.  Out of nowhere, a large Eagle Patronus swooped down in front of the Dementor and started forcing it back toward Luna.  Luna walked over to Ginny’s body and commanded, “Bring it here and hold it still.”  Gio, the silent Auror, stepped around the exhausted Harry, controlling his eagle Patronus with his ebony wand.  He gently herded the Dementor to the spot that Luna indicated next to Ginny’s body and then flicked his bone wand at the Dementor.  A twice life-size python Patronus wrapped around the struggling Dementor.  

 

     “Bend it over Ginny like it was kissing her,” Luna said in a harsh voice.  Gio flicked his bone wand and the python Patronus squeezed the Dementor, forcing it over Ginny’s prostrate body.  

 

     Luna walked up to the Dementor, and pushed her way inside it.  As Harry watched with blurred vision, he could see Luna and the Dementor occupying the same spot.  Luna’s hand gripped the Dementor’s head and forced it into a kiss with Ginny.  The glow surrounding Luna increased until she became too bright to look at.  The Dementor encasing Luna struggled, trying desperately to break the grip of Luna and the python Patronus, but couldn’t break free.  The glow surrounding Luna subsided to a level where Harry could again see what was happening.  A feeble glow came from the Dementor’s face; suddenly Harry could see silvery threads flowing from the Dementor’s mouth to Ginny’s.  Ginny’s eyes filled with understanding.  She struggled to rise from beneath the Dementor, but stopped when she saw Luna holding the Dementor over her.

 

     Slowly, the Dementor shrank.  The flow of silvery threads into Ginny’s mouth increased in speed, until one moment there was a Dementor, and the next moment there was nothing but a smoking robe where the Dementor had been.  Luna collapsed exhausted next to Ginny.  Ginny screamed, rose onto her knees and vomited blood on the grass.  Harry moved to help Ginny rise and gently wiped her mouth on the sleeve of his shirt.  Gio moved up to Luna, taking her pulse at the base of her neck.  The battle had quieted, with only an occasional noise coming from the far end of the field.  Harry looked around and saw that the ring of Dementors surrounding the field had glided off.

 

     Ginny raised her pale face to Harry, and whispered quietly, “I knew you’d save me.  I love you, Harry,” then fainted in his arms. Harry summoned a stretcher with his wand and laid Ginny gently into it.  Gio did the same for Luna, and the two set off for the main stage, with the stretchers floating by their sides.  Harry snuck some glances at the dust and blood covered Auror by his side.  He looked so unremarkable, with his thin frame, dark skin and eyes, but his wand work amazed Harry. 

 

     “You can’t speak at all, can you?” asked Harry.  Gio just shook his head.  

 

     “You did all that with voiceless wand work?” Harry asked with amazement in his voice.  Gio nodded.

 

     They arrived back at the main stage, where a triage operation had been set up by Conner.  As Harry watched, Healers from St. Mungo’s apparated in.  Harry walked with Ginny’s stretcher toward the nearest Healer.  The Healer looked at Ginny, felt her pulse and temperature, summoned a chart with his wand, and made a few notations on it.  He told Harry to just leave Ginny with him, and he would see to her.  Mrs. Weasley looked up from where she had been leaning over Percy’s stretcher and saw Ginny and Harry.  She hurried over and asked the Healer, “What’s wrong with my Ginny?”

 

     “Looks like just shock ma’am,” the Healer replied gently.  “I think she might just need some bed rest.  Excuse me, but there are critically injured here that need to go to casualty right away.”  He bustled off toward a mangled Hogwarts student whose name  Harry couldn’t remember, grabbed the battered boy and disapparated. 

 

     “How’s Percy doing?” Harry asked Mrs. Weasley, “When I saw him, he looked pretty bad.”  Harry didn’t always like Percy, but he respected him for coming to his defense at the Battle of Hogwarts.  

 

     “He’ll be O.K.  He just lost a lot of blood while he was down.  Ron tells me you saved him and Percy both, and now you just saved Ginny, too,” she choked.  “Can you forgive me for what I said earlier? Without you I would have lost more of my children today.  You’re welcome to stay with us as long as you need.”

 

     “I only helped save Ginny this time, Luna did the real work,” Harry admitted.  “Ginny had been given the Dementor’s Kiss, but Luna forced the Dementor to return Ginny’s spirit somehow.  I don’t quite understand how.”

 

     Gio put his hand on Harry’s shoulder in a friendly way, squeezed gently, and then went off toward where Conner stood talking to a small group of six Aurors at the far end of the triage area.  Harry gave Mrs. Weasley a quick hug, waved at Ron and Hermione in a friendly manner, received a friendly wave back from the embracing couple then went to sit in a chair at the edge of the triage area.  The last thing Harry remembered before he collapsed into exhausted sleep was Luna’s bright eyes opening and looking at him gently.

 


	7. Hard Truth's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry hears some hard truths.

          Harry awoke to someone gently shaking his shoulder.  He looked up through tired eyes.  Conner noticed Harry open his eyes and stopped shaking.  “Son, you need to come and hear this too.  You’re involved in this as much as anyone here.”

 

            Conner led Harry through the devastation to a tent that had miraculously remained nearly unscathed.  Harry joined the people sitting inside.  As he approached with Conner; Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt stood and moved to greet Harry, shaking his hand warmly, then stood at the head of the table.

 

            Harry went with Conner and sat by Mr. Weasley.  Harry looked at the odd assortment of wizards in the tent.  Mr. and Mrs. Weasley huddled wearily next to each other.  On Harry’s other side, sat Conner and Gio.  The Minister was seated at the head of the table with two other Aurors that Harry did not recognize.  Ron and Hermione were seated at the back of the tent, holding each others’ hands and leaning in whispering to each other.  

 

            Shacklebolt stood up a little bit straighter and addressed the group, “I still want to raise my objections to having the children here to hear this.”

 

            Harry stood and said angrily, “There’s no children here, we’re all of age.  Say your piece.”  Harry remained standing defiantly.

 

            Mrs. Weasley added, “Harry’s been through as much or more than any of us here.  He lost his parents in the first war, his godfather Sirius in this last war, and many other friends as well.  He has a right to be here.  Ron and Hermione have been with him every step of the way and they deserve to be here too.  Anything you say that needs to remain confidential will be.  You can count on their discretion.”  Conner put his hand on Harry’s elbow and gently guided him back to sitting.  

 

            Shacklebolt sighed deeply, then gathered himself and started to speak, “The group that attacked was not truly Death Eaters.  They were led by Bartleby Hodges, a known Death Eater, but all the rest had no criminal past.  Two of the attackers were known to be in a Wizard’s separatist group called Wizards First.  The rest seemed to be young toughs dissatisfied with the current administration.  We have begun taken the surviving attackers to Azkaban where they will be interrogated.”

 

            “And just who is guarding them at Azkaban?”  Harry demanded, standing again, “We saw the Dementors here.  The Ministry had assured us that the Dementors were back guarding Azkaban.”

 

            Shacklebolt looked at Harry with a piercing glare, “The Ministry felt that if the wizarding populace knew that Dementors were still at large, the panic from the second war would just continue.  We felt confident that we would track them down and return them to Azkaban.”

 

            Harry interrupted again, “How many died here from your confidence?  Do you think anyone would have planned an event like this if they knew Dementors and Death Eaters were still at large?  Your Ministry is no different from Fudge’s Ministry, lying to the populace to prevent panic at a cost of peoples’ lives.”

 

            Conner said gently from Harry’s side, “Harry, that’s a harsh charge.  You should sit down and hear the whole truth before deciding what your opinion is.”

 

            Harry turned angrily on Conner, “The whole truth should be available to everyone, not just a select few at the Ministry.”  He turned back to Shacklebolt and demanded, “You avoided my questions, sir.  How many died here?  Who the bloody Hell is guarding Azkaban?”

 

            Shacklebolt’s face started blotching in anger, “Boy, we’re doing our best to hold this Ministry together, don’t judge us without all the facts.  I’ll answer your second question first; Aurors are guarding Azkaban.  We’re keeping all the prisoners drugged insensible as we don’t have enough Aurors left to guard them.”

 

            Conner interrupted, “I still say we need to adopt the American strategy to magical malfeasance until this emergency is over.”

 

            Shacklebolt turned his ire on Conner and thundered, “Capital punishment will NEVER return to England, NEVER!”

 

            Conner replied mildly, “No, instead we’ll continue to have killers and Death Eaters roaming free and escaping from Azkaban because we don’t have enough manpower to keep them in.”

 

            “When you have a solution for our manpower crisis, then I’ll listen, Conner.  Until then let’s concentrate on the problems we can solve.”  Shacklebolt continued, “As for your first question, Harry:  Eight attackers died:  One was shot with a pistol, two were splinched together when they attempted Disapparating, one cracked his head open after being stunned, one was killed with the Sectumsempra curse, two died from the exploding fireworks tent, and one died from the results of a physical beating.  Six defenders died:  Benny Segal was killed by the Killing Curse, Dunstan Squab was burnt to death by fireworks, Sally-Anne Perks died from the Sectumsempra Curse, Gabrielle Delacour died from being trampled, and Jasminder and Bharat Patil were both killed by a Suffocating Curse.  In addition three people are comatose after receiving the Dementor’s Kiss:  Dean Thomas, Hugo Theriot, and Luna Lovegood.”

 

            Harry had sat down when Gabrielle’s name had been called and cradled his head his hands.  When Dean’s name was called, he looked guiltily at Conner.  When Luna’s name was called, Harry stood again and choked, “No, she didn’t receive the Dementor’s Kiss; she forced a Dementor who had Kissed Ginny to give back Ginny’s life force.”  At his side Gio arose, waved his ebony wand in a complicated pattern and conjured a blurry image of events from when Harry chose to save Luna until the point when Luna forced the Dementor to return Ginny’s life force.  

 

            Everyone’s head swiveled to face Harry.  Haltingly, Harry gave his version of what happened.  When he finished, Shacklebolt said, “Hopefully, Ms. Lovegood will awaken from her coma, we need to talk to her.  She might be able to shed some light on how these terrorists are communicating with the Dementors. She might also be able to tell us just how she forced Ms. Weasley’s soul back into her body.  However, our first order of business here is make sure that we’re all agreed on the story about what happened here.  Too many people saw the Dementors to keep that under wraps any longer.  We need to not create another panic here.”

 

            Hermione stood and pulled Ron standing next to her.  She spoke in a firm voice, “We need to simply tell the truth.  A group of young wizards, dissatisfied with the current regime and supportive of some of the policies of the Death Eaters, led by a former Death Eater attacked the wake of Fred Weasley to make a political statement.  They have communicated in an unknown way with Dementors to form an alliance.  Aurors now guard Azkaban in place of Dementors.  I don’t think we need to let the general public know about the manpower shortage in the Aurors or the drugging of the prisoners.  I want to go on the record that I don’t approve of the drugging of the prisoners, but I see no alternative.”

 

            Ron nodded his head and spoke, “I agree with everything Hermione said.”

 

            Harry looked defiantly at Shacklebolt, “I was asked by the previous administration to support their policies as a figurehead. I am willing to do that for this administration, but I want truth from it as much as possible.  No more keeping secrets from the public for their own good.  Too many people have died from the Ministry keeping secrets and not preparing the people.  Tell the truth about what happened here, tell the truth about the Dementors, and I will stand up and publicly support the Ministry.  Don’t put me in a position where I need to stand up against the Ministry and I won’t, but if I find out about lies and deception that aren’t in the public’s interest, I will denounce the Ministry just like I did before when no one believed me about Voldemort’s return.”

 

            Shacklebolt replied, “Alright, Mr. Potter, we will do this your way, but in exchange, I want public declarations of support for the Ministry.  I’m leaving here to fill in _The Daily Prophet,_ and I will give full disclosure of the events that happened here.”  Shacklebolt nodded to the two Aurors on his sides, then they all turned and Disapparated.  

 

            Mr. Weasley leaned over and told Harry, “We’re returning to The Burrow now to get some rest.  Please feel free to return and stay with us, I know that Ginny will be glad to see you regardless of what the situation between you two is at the moment.”  Mrs. Weasley gave Harry a big hug and a motherly kiss on the cheek, then she and Mr. Weasley turned and disapparated.  

 

            As Ron and Hermione approached Harry and started to speak, Conner stepped in front of them and asked, “Could you two wait outside for a few minutes?  I need to speak with Harry.”

 

            Hermione grabbed Ron’s hand and pulled him out of the tent, saying, “If you need us Harry, we’ll be right outside.”  With her free hand, she gave Harry’s shoulder a squeeze as she half-dragged Ron outside the tent.

 

            Conner looked at Harry with a cold expression then spoke, “Son, are you sure you want to be an Auror?  You don’t seem to have the discipline needed for it.”

 

            Harry looked at him shocked and asked, “What do you mean?”

 

            Conner continued, “Look boy, you think too much like a Gryffindor.  It’s all well and good to be brave and rush into danger, but you’ve got to think about how your actions will affect others.  Twice in that battle, you left your partner behind to fend for himself against a superior force.  The second time you ran off, you left him exposed and a Dementor kissed him.  Boy, you’ve got to keep your head about you when you’re in a battle like that.  Also, boy, when you surprised the Death Eaters that had Ron and Gio surrounded, Gio told me you used the Sectumsempra Curse on a Death Eater.  You could have just as easily stunned him; did you need to use deadly force?”

 

            Harry shot back angrily, “Who are you to talk about deadly force? You shot one of them with a gun.”

 

            Conner blasted back, “Boy, that was a different situation, that punk was about to slit your throat, I had to use the only weapon I had.  You had the drop on your Death Eater and could have just stunned him.  I want you to think about the two deaths you directly influenced: that Death Eater and Dean Thomas.  If you want to know what makes a real hero, look at you friend Longbottom and the two oldest Weasley boys.”  He nodded at Gio and they both turned and disapparated. 

 

           Harry stayed in the tent for a few moments to gather his fragmented thoughts before stepping out where Ron and Hermione waited for him.

 

          Hermione stepped forward first, pulling free from Ron’s hand and gave Harry a big hug. Stepping back from the hug she said, “Harry, thank you for saving Ron and me.  We never would have made it without you.  I got hit by my own reflected Stunning Curse.  Ron told me about how you surprised the Death Eaters that had him and Gio surrounded.”

 

          “Hermione, you must know that no matter what happens; you and Ron will always be my friends.  I would always risk everything to save you.”

 

          Ron stepped forward and grasped Harry’s hand and said, “Yeah, mate, thanks for saving me, I don’t think Gio and I would have made it without your surprise.  I know that Hermione and Percy wouldn’t have made it without you.”  Ron looked down embarrassed and continued, “I-I’m sorry about punching you earlier today, I just get so protective where Ginny’s concerned.  I know you wouldn’t hurt her deliberately, but I just got so wound up seeing you kissing Luna.”

 

          “Ron, I understand.  I don’t know right now what’s going on between me and Ginny or between me and Luna, but I promise that I will try to spare Ginny’s feelings no matter how it comes out.”  Harry asked, “How are Ginny and Percy?”

 

          Ron spoke up, “Percy’s in St. Mungo’s with a pretty bad concussion and moderate blood loss, they say he’ll recover in about a week, but might have headaches for the rest of his life.  The Healers were surprised with how fast Ginny seemed to be recovering, said it was shock and sent her home with orders for a week of bed rest and monitoring on the hour.”

 

          Harry asked curiously, “Conner told me that your oldest brothers and Neville were the true heroes here.  What did he mean by that?”

 

          Hermione replied, choking back sobs, “When the Death Eaters first started Apparating in, Neville was speaking with Charlie and Bill.  Those three were responsible for saving most of the children, they each side-along apparated out dozens of children to the Burrow.  Fleur also saved a bunch of people by taking them to Shell Cottage, although she couldn’t find Gabrielle.”

 

          Harry felt a surge of gratitude for Neville, Bill and Charlie, and finally understood what Conner had meant about heroism.  He looked at his two best friends and said, “Tell Ginny I’ll be along later to see her.  I need to go to St. Mungo’s first to see Dean and Luna.”  

 

          They gathered together in a brief group hug, then Harry separated and Disapparated.

 

          Ron turned to Hermione and asked, “Do you think he’ll be o.k.?”

 

          Hermione gave Ron a quick kiss and said, “I hope so, Ron, I hope so.”  They both turned and Disapparated to the Burrow.

 

 


	8. St. Mungo's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry goes to St. Mungo's to see how Luna is doing.

          Harry apparated into the reception area of St. Mungo’s.  The place was even more mad than he’d seen it before.  Not only were there the normal casualties of the wizarding world, but there were also the minor casualties of the battle at Fred’s wake.  Harry started to bypass the queue in front of the desk and continue to the fourth floor, where he knew he would find Dean and Luna.  He had just passed the desk when a burly orderly stepped out in front of him and blocked his passage, “Oi! Where d’you think you’re goin’?”  

 

            “I was just heading to visit friends on the fourth floor.  They should be in the closed ward, victims of a Dementor attack,” Harry replied quickly, trying to edge his way around the orderly.

 

            “Get in the queue and check in just like any other visitor.  I don’t care if you’re Harry-Bleedin’-Potter himself, you’ve gotta check in,” the orderly said in a weary voice.

 

            Harry got in the queue just behind an elderly witch who was sneezing and wheezing uncontrollably.  He stepped back just a little to avoid being gobbed on and stepped on the toes of the wizard behind him who was chuckling under his breath and waving his hand in small circles in front of his face.  The queue moved surprisingly quickly and in no time at all Harry had reached the Welcome Witch behind the desk.

 

            Harry approached the intimidating matron behind the desk and said, “Harry Potter here to see Dean Thomas and Luna Lovegood.  They should be on the fourth floor, victims of a Dementor attack.”

 

            The matronly witch looked Harry over and told him, “That’s correct, fourth floor, closed ward.  You’ll need this pass to past the Healer at the door.  That mess at the wake’s kept us busy all evening.”  She looked dismissively over his head to the next wizard in line as Harry took the small pass and clipped it to his shirt.  He noticed then that his yellow shirt was speckled and stained with blood from the battle.

 

            Harry hurried his way up the stairs to the fourth floor, not wanting to queue up for a lift.  As he approached the closed ward, he saw the same Healer he had met before when he’d accidentally discovered the closed ward while visiting Mr. Weasley after his attack by Nagini.  The motherly Healer recognized Harry and greeted him warmly, “Here to visit Mr. Lockhart again, Harry?”

 

            “Not tonight.  Tonight I’m here to visit Dean Thomas and Luna Lovegood.  They should have been admitted earlier tonight,” Harry choked, not realising how he had just barely been holding it together.

 

            “Poor dears, they were kissed by a Dementor.  They won’t know you’re there, but you can go on in and visit them.  Second ward on the right, fourth and fifth beds on the right.”  She waved him on and opened the door for him.  “Just knock when you’re ready to be let out, the door doesn’t open from the inside.”

 

            Harry went into the ward, trying not to look too closely at the patients lining the wards.  He hurried his way into the ward housing Dean and Luna, counting the beds to make sure he had the right one.  When he approached the beds that should have Dean and Luna, he noticed the privacy curtains had been pulled around each of them.  He pulled open the curtain around the fourth bed, discovering it to be empty.  The chart on the foot of the bed read, “ _Luna Lovegood, Dementor’s Kiss.”_   Harry didn’t look over the rest of the chart; instead he stepped over to the fifth bed and ripped the curtain open.  

 

            Dean was in starched, clean hospital robes, lying over the blankets with a vacant expression in his eyes.  Drool was oozing gently from his mouth onto a growing puddle on his pillow.  A very pale Luna sat slumped in a chair, holding Dean’s hand.  At first, Harry thought she was sleeping and he didn’t want to disturb her, but at a closer look, Harry noticed that Luna had the same blank expression that Dean did.  Harry touched her gently, thought he saw a flicker of movement in her pale eyes, but decided that he must not have.  Concerned, he ran back through the ward and pounded on the door.

 

            The motherly Healer opened the door and saw Harry’s panicked face.  “What is it, dear?” she asked gently.  “Sometimes it’s too much to see them like that.”

 

            Harry interrupted, his voice shaking, “It’s Luna.  She’s not in her bed; she’s sitting in a chair next to Dean, holding his hand.”

 

            The Healer shoved Harry from in the doorframe and pushed him into the closed ward.  The door closed firmly behind them with a snap as they both rushed through the ward to see Luna and Dean.  When they arrived at the beds, the curtains had been drawn closed again.  

            

            “I left the curtains open,” Harry said, shaking his head in wonder and hope.

 

            The Healer opened the curtains surrounding Dean’s bed first.  Dean was lying there, just the same as before, except that Luna wasn’t sitting next to him holding his hand.  The Healer then ripped open Luna’s curtains to reveal an empty bed.  Quickly, the Healer pulled out her wand and a piece of laminated glass from her pocket.  She waved her wand at the glass, and said into it, “We’ve got a walkabout from the closed ward, lock the place down.”

 

            A few seconds later, a warm voice said over PA, “St. Mungo’s will be going into lockdown.  All staff please report to your posts.  Visitors will not be permitted into wards until the lockdown is complete.  Visitors will please proceed to the nearest exit where they will be cleared for exit by staff.”

 

            The message started repeating.  Several more Healers came rushing in to search the closed ward.  The motherly Healer started pushing Harry toward the exit from the closed ward.  “Now Harry, we’ll find your friend.  No one can get out of here once we lockdown,” she said soothingly.

 

            “How often have you had patients who’ve received the Dementor’s Kiss just get up and walk out?” Harry demanded angrily.

 

            “Never, but we do get some walkabouts from the less confused patients.  Now you’ve got to leave.  We’ll contact you by Patronus when we find her.  Go to the exit on the ground floor and leave from there.”

 

            Harry shook with nervous tension and lack of sleep as he made his way to the ground floor.  As he approached the exit near the Welcome Witch desk, he heard someone shout, “YOU!” at him.

 

            He turned to see Parvati Patil restraining her twin Padma.  They both wore rumpled saris and were red-eyed from weeping.  Padma was shouting at Harry, “YOU LET OUR PARENTS DIE!  YOU RAN OFF TO SAVE YOUR FRIENDS WHEN YOU COULD HAVE SAVED OUR PARENTS!”  Parvati held tight to her sister to prevent her from rushing at Harry.

 

            Harry started to speak, but was interrupted by Parvati, “Just go, Harry.  She’s not going to listen to anything you have to say tonight, and I’m not sure I would either.”

 

            Padma kept shouting at him the whole time that Harry exited the door, “KILLER!  FREAK!   THEIR BLOOD IS ON YOUR HANDS!”

 

            Harry was grateful when the door closed and cut off her screaming.  He found himself strangely drained of emotion and walked automatically away from the closed department store that hid St. Mungo’s.  Harry walked among the dark streets for a while, lost in thought.  

 

            “ _Sometimes I think people are right when they shout ‘Killer!’ at me. Why do I feel bad that I killed those two Death Eaters?   They would have killed me without a second thought.  I should have been able to save Gabrielle, I should have been able to save the Patils, I shouldn’t have run off from Dean.  Dammit! People are right when they blame me.”_

 

            Harry slouched through the streets, trying to find some peace in his thoughts, but instead found only more darkness.  “ _I guess I’ve got to go see Ginny.  I don’t know if I can take seeing Ginny sick because of my actions, but I guess I’m going to have to.  I wish I knew how I felt about her, and how I felt about Luna.  If I keep going like I am, I’m only going to hurt both of them.  Maybe I should just disappear, run away and let them be.  I really want to disappear, just go somewhere where no one has ever heard of The-Boy-Who-Lived, but I can’t.  I can’t just abandon my friends.”_

As his resolve stiffened, he turned and disapparated for the Burrow, not noticing in his haste to leave the cloaked figure lurching up slowly behind him. 


	9. Return to the Burrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry returns to the Burrow.

             Harry apparated into the kitchen of The Burrow.  Mr. Weasley sat up with a start from the kitchen table.   Mr. Weasley had a jeweler’s loupe over his left eye, held in place with an elasticised band.  He had been bent over the remains of the espresso machine that George had destroyed that morning. 

 

            “Harry, my boy, back from visiting Luna already?” Mr. Weasley asked.

 

            “I—she,” Harry stammered, wondering how to state what had happened, “She went missing.  I went to visit her, and she was sitting up holding Dean’s hand.  I went to get the Healer on duty and when I returned, Luna was gone.”

 

            Mr. Weasley interrupted, “That’s a good sign, in a way, that she would be able to walk about.  Strange that she could get out of the closed ward, though.”

 

            Harry spoke up again, “Is Ginny doing alright?  The Healer at the wake said that he thought it might just be shock.  Does she seem herself?”

 

            “Harry, she’s just been sleeping since getting home.  Molly is sitting up with her right now.  Why don’t you go up and visit her.  Even if she’s still asleep, I’m sure your presence will help.”

 

            Harry clapped his hand on Mr. Weasleys shoulder as he went by on the way up the stairs.  Mr. Weasley immediately went back to fixing his espresso maker.  Harry mused on the way up the stairs that everyone had their own way of dealing with stress and that Mr. Weasley’s way was to mess about with Muggle machinery.  

 

            Harry approached the door to Ginny’s room and knocked quietly at the door.  The door swung open quietly with Mrs. Weasley’s hand pulling it.  She motioned for Harry to be quiet by putting her finger to her lips.  Harry stepped quietly into the room.  Harry looked down at Ginny on the bed, his eyes widening at what he saw.  Her face shone like alabaster, pale even for Ginny.  Her freckles stood out like miniature Suns on her pale skin.  Sweat stood out on her forehead as she thrashed under her blankets.  Harry could just make out the words she was muttering in her sleep, “No!  Please don’t!  Harry!   Oh God, Luna, stop!  Mummy, help me!”

 

            Mrs. Weasley leaned over and whispered into Harry’s ear, “It’s just about time to wake her again.  We have to wake her every hour to make sure that she’s not concussed or lapsing into a coma.  Why don’t you go and get cleaned up?  I’m sure she wouldn’t want to see you in that blood-soaked shirt.”  

 

            Harry left the room quietly, closing the door behind him.  He crept into Ron’s room to get some clean clothes out of his trunk.  He stealthily lifted out his clothing without disturbing the gently snoring Ron and went to shower.  Harry mused, “ _Maybe Lady MacBeth was right and it’s hard to wash off the blood on your hands._ ”  Harry scrubbed and scrubbed, but still a spot of blood clung tenaciously beneath his right thumb.  When he had scrubbed all he could, he left the shower, his skin pink from the hot water and scrubbing.  He dressed hurriedly and went down to Ginny’s room, his untidy hair dripping everywhere.

 

            He quietly opened the door to Ginny’s room, and crept inside.  Ginny was sleeping more peacefully now and Mrs. Weasley had dozed off in her bedside chair.  Harry reached out and touched Ginny’s hair gently and stroked her cheek.  Ginny’s eyes fluttered open and latched onto Harry.  

 

            “Harry, is it really you, or just another dream?” Ginny asked weakly.

 

            Mrs. Weasley awakened and whipped her wand out toward Harry before recovering her composure and watching.

 

            Harry reached down under the blanket, grabbed Ginny’s hand and said, “I’m really here, Ginny.  I’m really here.”

 

            “I knew that you wouldn’t abandon me, Harry, no matter what happened between you and Luna.  I knew you would save me, even when I was only able to scream helplessly inside the Dementor’s soulscape.”  Ginny clutched at Harry’s hand, holding onto it like it was a lifeline.  

 

            Harry held her hand for a few minutes and gently stroked Ginny’s cheek, not embarrassed at all that Mrs. Weasley was watching.  Finally, he spoke, stumbling over his words, “Ginny, I’ve got to be honest with you.  I wasn’t the one who saved you.  Luna saved you.  After you had been kissed by the Dementor, she forced it to give you back your spirit.  I—I tried to help her, but I was too weak.  If Gio hadn’t come when he had, the Dementor would have escaped.  It’s all my fault that you ran out, it’s all my fault.  I never meant to hurt you, Ginny.  I would never deliberately hurt you.”

 

            “Harry, if you hadn’t come along when you did, Luna might not have been able to stop the Dementor by herself.  I don’t blame you for what happened, so don’t blame yourself,” Ginny gasped in a weak voice before starting to cough spasmodically. 

 

            “Alright, Harry, that’s enough for tonight. To bed with you,”  Mrs. Weasley commanded.

 

            Harry leaned over, kissed Ginny lightly on her forehead, nodded to Mrs. Weasley and went up to the bedroom he shared with Ron.  Harry managed to get his pyjamas on and to get under the blankets quietly.  He fell asleep almost instantly.

 

            Harry awakened an unknown time later to the sensation of someone crawling into bed with him.  Harry whispered hoarsely into the dark room, “What the Hell are you playing at, Ron?”  He was silenced by soft lips covering his and kissing him.  Harry had been kissing those lips earlier that day, and he knew just who they belonged to.  “Luna?  How did you get in here?  What are you doing?” Harry whispered quietly, pulling back slightly.

 

            A gentle finger touched Harry’s lips, gesturing him to be quiet.  Unseen hands pushed Harry further onto the bed, making room for the dark shape to settle in beside him.  Arms wrapped around Harry’s chest in the darkened room, drawing him closer.  Harry could feel breath creeping gently along his skin near his ear, before those so-soft lips kissed him below that same ear.  Soft kisses played up and down Harry’s neck before stopping over his chest and then continuing up to his mouth.  Harry wrapped his arms around the shape next to him, all rational thought forgotten in the feel of the lips on his skin.  As he pulled the shape into him, Harry could feel the tingling excitement in the body next to his, the hunger that needed to be sated.

 

            Harry pulled the dark shape in tighter to him and responded to its kisses with gentle butterfly kisses of his own.  He started at the shape’s forehead, kissing gently down to its nose.  Playfully, Harry nipped the nose gently, earning a small giggle from the shape next to him.  Harry, certain now that it was Luna, continued his kissing from her nose, down the right side of her face, onto her upturned lips.  They kissed passionately for a few minutes, probing each other with lips and tongues, then Harry continued kissing down her neck.  Suddenly, Ron’s snoring stopped.  Harry and Luna both stopped and lay there silently.

 

            “Hermione, stop it, Mum might see us,” muttered Ron, obviously dreaming.  His bed creaked as he shifted position, and then his snoring recommenced.

 

            Luna and Harry both shook with suppressed laughter, drawing their bodies even closer together.  Luna gasped at the feel of Harry pressed up next to her.  The spell had not been broken by the interruption, but intensified instead.  Clothing was shifted and dropped to the floor in a heap.  Hands and lips moved in delicate ballet.  Needs were communicated silently by simply moving the other’s hands and lips.  A desperate longing rose in both of them, and Luna moved to begin the final act of their passion.  As she moved, her body started to glow with a soft silvery light, as if illuminated from within.  The glowing seemed to affect Harry, his breathing grew laboured and he started to shake.  

 

            As Luna and Harry shared their passion with a kiss, silvery threads began to flow from Harry’s mouth into Luna’s.  Harry awakened from his reverie with a start, memories of a Dementor kissing him galvanised his body, pushing him to action.  He shoved Luna off and broke the connection between their mouths.  Ron’s snoring continued unabated.  Harry could feel Luna’s body trembling with a need that he couldn’t fulfill.  Luna pulled back and whispered in his ear, “I’m sorry, Harry, I didn’t mean for that to happen, I’m still learning how to control this.”

 

            Harry whispered back, “What is this?”

 

            Luna pulled back farther and whispered, “I think we should discuss it more tomorrow when we’re both more capable of rational thought.  _And_ when we’re fully clothed.”

 

            Luna pulled her clothing off the floor by feel and dressed quietly.  She knelt and quickly gave Harry a brief kiss before leaving.  Harry grabbed his pyjamas and put them back on quietly before falling into a troubled sleep. 


	10. Press Conference at the Burrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry holds a press conference at the Burrow, as promised.

            Harry awakened to the sounds of Ron rummaging through his wardrobe for clothing.  The creaky drawers on Ron’s wardrobe defeated Ron’s attempt to quietly retrieve his clothing.  Harry heard Ron mutter under his breath, “Nothing works right in this place.”  Ron pulled out some clean trousers and socks, closed his creaky drawer, pulled his jeans and shirt from a pile on the floor and sniffed them.  Making a face at the smell of the shirt, he discarded it back to the pile and selected another one.  After it had passed his olfactory inspection, he tried to sneak quietly from the room.

 

            Harry spoke up, “Good morning, Ron.  How are you holding up?”

 

            Ron jumped a little at the sound of Harry’s voice, obviously thinking that he was still asleep.  Ron replied, “As well as can be expected, I guess.  I’m gonna go shower and get some breakfast, if that’s o.k. with you.”  Ron turned without waiting for a reply and left the room.  Harry could hear the sound of the shower from down the hallway.  He looked at the clock.  “ _Eight-thirty:  I only got five hours of sleep.  No wonder I feel so tired_ ,” Harry thought to himself.  Harry lay in bed for a while, playing over the scene of the previous night in his head.  “ _I can’t believe that Luna came in here.  I can’t believe what we did with Ron right next to us.  What if we had awakened him?  What if Luna and I had gone further and she had gotten pregnant?  What happened at the end with the Kiss and the glowing?  It was like being kissed by the Dementor all over again, but this time it was happy memories that were being fed on.  I better go down and see Luna; she must be staying with Ginny.  How the Hell did she escape from the closed ward? I’m not doing anyone any good just laying here.”_

The sounds of the shower stopped and Harry could hear Ron’s footsteps going down the stairs to the kitchen.  Harry swung his legs over the side of the bed and tried to stand.  He fell to the floor with a loud crash, his legs giving out underneath him.  He tried to stand, but he felt so weak.  With a grunt of effort, he managed to pull himself into an upright sitting position, resting his back against the side rail of the bed.  Just as he had finally managed to get himself upright, Hermione poked her head into the doorframe.  

 

            “Ron?  Are you in here?” asked Hermione’s voice from behind the door.

 

            “No, Hermione, Ron’s not here, but I could use your help, please,” pleaded Harry from his place on the floor.  

 

            Hermione stuck her head farther into the door and saw Harry sitting on the floor.  “What happened, Harry?”  she asked concernedly.

 

            “I can’t stand on my own.  I feel so weak today,” Harry replied wearily.  Even speaking took effort.

 

            Hermione moved into the room, already bathed and fully dressed.  She reached down and helped Harry stand.  Harry leaned heavily on Hermione and together they fumbled their way down the steps into the kitchen.  Ron and George sat at the table eating scones with jam.  They both rose when they saw Hermione struggling to keep Harry upright on the steps.  Ron shouldered Hermione out of the way gently and took up Harry’s weight.  George grabbed Harry’s other shoulder and together they helped Harry sit at the table.  

 

            George looked at Harry with concern and asked him, “Are you alright?”

 

            “I don’t know.  I feel so drained today.  It’s like someone has wrung me out,” Harry replied.

 

            Hermione started moving around the kitchen industriously, reminding Harry of the previous day when he and Ginny had made breakfast together.  “ _Was that really just yesterday?  It seems ages ago,”_ thought Harry.

 

            The smell of sausage being cooked brought up Harry’s hunger.  Harry looked around at the table and said, “Ron, could you pass me a scone with some jam, please?”

 

            Ron buttered a scone, put some raspberry jam on it and handed it Harry.  Harry devoured the scone in three bites, chewing greedily.  Harry’s hunger arose full-force and he finished off three more scones before Hermione had some sausage and eggs ready.  They all watched in fascination as Harry ate enough to feed three people, his ravening hunger only being sated after six scones, four eggs and five huge sausages.

 

            “Merlin’s beard, Harry, I’ve never seen you eat like that before,” Ron said.  “Usually I’m the one pigging out.”

 

            “It was a very long and very hard day yesterday, Ron.  I don’t remember the last time that I ate,” Harry said.  “Is there any more news about Percy or Ginny?”

 

            George jumped in, “Ginny’s up in her room reading and Percy is resting uncomfortably in St. Mungo’s with a splitting migraine.  The Healers say he’ll be fine in a few weeks, but with the nasty crack he took on the head, they’re going to hold him for observation for a week.”

 

            “How’s Fleur?” asked Harry.

 

            Hermione answered with a quavering voice, “She’s despondent.  Gabrielle was coming to spend the summer with them at Shell Cottage.  The Delacours thought it would be safe here now that Voldemort’s been defeated.”  She started to cry gently, “Bill contacted the Delacours by mirror last night and they’re staying with Bill and Fleur.”

 

            “And Luna, when did she arrive here?” Harry asked curiously.

 

            They all looked at Harry strangely.  Finally, wiping the tears from her cheek, Hermione said, “Luna’s not here, Harry.  Don’t you remember?  She’s in St. Mungo’s in the closed ward.”

 

            Harry interjected harshly, “No!  I went to visit her last night after you returned to the Burrow.  When I arrived, she wasn’t in her bed.  I found her sitting next to Dean, holding his hand.  When I returned with the Healer, she was gone.  They locked down the hospital, but I’m sure they didn’t find her.  I’m sure she arrived here last night.”

 

            Ron spoke gently, “Harry, it must have been a dream.  You were moaning and thrashing a lot last night.  I know you woke me up around six this morning muttering her name in your sleep.  It was just a dream, Harry.”

 

            Harry shook his head violently, “No!  It couldn’t have been a dream, could it?”  He hung his head and shook silently in his seat for a moment, holding back tears with great effort.  Hermione moved her chair closer to Harry’s and held him until the storm passed.  Ron and George exchanged embarrassed glances with each other.  Finally, Harry looked up and said, “I’ve got to go find her.  She’s wandering out there all alone somewhere.”

 

            Hermione spoke in a firm voice, “We’ll help you find her, Harry, but first you’ve got to get better.  You should go back to bed and rest some more.”

 

            Ron and George moved to help Harry stand up, but he stood before they could get there, and tottered like an old man toward the steps.  As he started slowly mounting the steps, Mrs. Weasley came down the steps.

 

            “Good.  Everyone’s had some breakfast then?” she asked.  Turning her face to Harry she spoke again, “You better go get ready, dear, the reporters will be here at ten o’clock.”

 

            “Reporters?” Harry asked, confused.

 

            Mrs. Weasley looked at Harry sympathetically and told him, “Yes, reporters.  Don’t you remember your promise to Kingsley?”

 

            Harry stared around at everyone gathered around him for a moment before finding his voice, “I’ve got to speak with reporters today?  It can’t wait until we find Luna?”

 

            Mrs. Weasley patted his cheeks in a motherly manner, but spoke in a firm voice that brooked no disobedience, “No, Harry, it can’t wait.  It has to be this morning.  You’ve got to speak out about what you know.  Remember that you said you would support Kingsley and not speak out against him.  The Ministry has people out looking for Luna; don’t worry about her.  They’ll find her.  Now go get ready.”

 

            As Harry was tottering up the stairs to shower, he could hear George ask, “Why is Harry talking to reporters?”

 

            When Harry reached the bathroom, he saw that Mrs. Weasley had already put out his best robes for him to wear.  She had also left a note for him instructing him to make sure his hair was presentable for the photographs and to make sure that his glasses were clean.  Harry showered quickly, then got dressed in the robes Mrs. Weasley had put out for him.

 

            After the food and shower, Harry felt a little stronger.  He stopped by Ginny’s room to check in on her, opening the door quietly.  Ginny had fallen asleep, the book she had been reading had spilled on the floor.  Harry smoothed her hair out of her face, pulled the blankets tighter up around her shoulders and put the book she had been reading on the nightstand.  Sighing, he left her room and closed the door behind him.

 

          He couldn’t put off going downstairs any longer.  He hated speaking to reporters; he had given so many interviews in the days directly following the Battle of Hogwarts that he desperately never wanted to talk to a reporter again.  “ _My fame is going to follow me my whole life, I’ll never be left alone to just get along with my life,”_ Harry thought bitterly.  Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice that he had automatically walked out the kitchen to the garden.  Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were setting up a small canvas tent, with Mrs. Weasley using her wand to gently correct Mr. Weasley’s attempt to set the poles up. 

 

          Harry took a seat in one of the chairs that had been set up for the reporters and waited for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to finish setting up the tent.  When they were done, Mrs. Weasley came over to Harry and inspected his robes and hair.  

 

          “Can’t you do anything more with your hair, Harry?” she asked.  She started trying to smooth it out with a brush she conjured from somewhere.  “At times like this, you remind me of James very strongly.  You look just like he did when he and Lily joined the Order, except that you have Lily’s eyes,” she said with a far-away look in her eyes.  

 

          Mr. Weasley took her gently by the elbow and said, “Molly, we need to go make sure we’re ready for guests, wouldn’t do to have them wait without proper greeting.  Or to have George greet them.” 

 

          Harry watched as they walked off, got up from his chair and went to sit behind the table they had erected in the tent.  After only a couple of minutes had passed, Hermione and Ron came down and sat next to him.  

 

          “Are you ready for this?” Hermione asked, putting her hand on Harry’s shoulder and looking at him with concern.

 

          “Whether I’m ready or not, it has to be done,” Harry replied simply.  “It would only do to hear the facts direct from ‘The Destroyer of Voldemort’.  No one else would do,” Harry continued, his voice rising slightly.

 

          Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came back into the garden with a small group of reporters following them.  With disgust, Harry recognised Rita Skeeter amongst them, dressed in iridescent green robes.  Hermione leaned over and whispered in Harry’s ear, “Be nice to her, Harry, she can make it look bad for you if she’s feeling vindictive.”

 

          After the reporters had been settled into their seats, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley joined the trio at the table.  Harry spoke up and stated, “Alright, I would like to start by saying a few things”

 

          Harry stood up, nearly toppled over, gripped the table fiercely and forced himself up.  He cleared his throat and began to speak:

 

          “As you know by now, there was an attack last night at the wake of Fred Weasley near Hogsmeade.  The group of wizards that attacked was dressed as Death Eaters, complete with masks.  They attacked in conjunction with Dementors.  The Dementors ringed the ground to prevent escape while the attackers wreaked havoc inside the wake.  There were a number of deaths on both sides, but the attackers were eventually driven off.  I have been personally assured by Minister Shacklebolt that these were not actually Death Eaters that attacked, but rather a splinter group called Wizards First.”

 

          Rita Skeeter interrupted him, “Mr. Potter, surely you know that the leader of this attacking group was Bartleby Hodges, a known associate of You-Know-Who?  Do you still claim that it wasn’t Death Eaters?”

 

          Harry shot back, “I have been personally assured of this information by Minister Shacklebolt and I have every confidence that it is accurate.”

 

          A dressed in stained brown robes stood up and said, “Xerxes Terabend with the London Inquisitor.  Do you have any idea what these attackers wanted?”

 

           Harry replied, “They didn’t make any statement that I’m aware of, but when they apparated in, one of them shouted to, and I quote, ‘Kill the Blood Traitors and Mudbloods.’”

 

          Before Harry could call on another reporter to ask a question, Rita Skeeter interjected again, “Mr. Potter is it true that you killed several of the attackers yourself?”

 

           A gasp went up from the assembled reporters as Harry confirmed, “Yes, I definitely killed one of the attackers.  In the chaos I used the Sectumsempra curse and he died from blood loss before the battle was over.”  Harry choked a bit as he continued, “I think I might have killed one other when I stunned him and he cracked his head open on the stairs to the stage.”

 

          A small wizard dressed in brilliant purple robes with silver stars stood and announced, “Paracelsus Persimmon from The Quibbler.  Is it true that you enjoy using your new rank within the Aurors to kill your old enemies indiscriminately and thereby to increase your status in the Rotfang conspiracy?”

 

          Harry replied with annoyance clear on his face, “Firstly, there is no Rotfang conspiracy.  Secondly, I’m not an Auror.  Thirdly, I don’t enjoy killing people.  I’m sick that I killed those people.  If I could go back, I would have just stunned him rather than using the Sectumsempra curse on him.  Fifthly, or I guess fourthly, the Aurors do not indiscriminately kill people either.”

 

          A large red-faced man dressed in a Muggle business suit stood and said in an American accent, “Devon Smith, American Wizarding.  Mr. Potter, how do you explain the appearance of Dementors at the wake?  Your own Ministry has assured the populace that the Dementors were back guarding Azkaban.”

 

          Harry answered, “I heard from high-ranking Ministry officials that they did not release the information that Dementors were still on the loose to prevent a panic.  When I found out about this, I threatened to go to the press immediately.  The officials relented and have issued warnings now that Dementors are on the loose and able in some way to communicate with the remaining Death Eaters and their splinter groups.”

 

          Rita Skeeter shouted over the other reporters, “Just who is guarding Azkaban, then?”

 

          Harry waited for the hubbub to die down before he answered, “Aurors are guarding Azkaban.”

 

          Xerxes Terabend stood again and quickly interjected, “But surely there aren’t enough Aurors to guard the new influx of prisoners?  How are they managing?”

 

          Hermione stood and said, “I’ll take this one, Harry.  For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Hermione Granger.  We are not privy to all the details of what goes on at Azkaban, for more information on that, you will need to contact Conner MacKinnon the new Chief Auror.”

 

          A slithery voice from the back row asked, “Ms. Granger, what do you think about Mr. MacKinnon’s suggestion that the convicted Death Eaters should face capital punishment?”

 

          Hermione answered, “I don’t believe you introduced yourself, sir.  I will still answer your question.  I’m sure I speak for all of us here at the table when I state unequivocally that capital punishment should never return to the U.K. except for treason in a time of war.”  Everyone at the table with Harry and Hermione nodded their approval of her statement.  She continued, “Even these convicted Death Eaters have some chance at redemption.”

 

            Harry answered a few more general questions about the events of the wake, before Rita Skeeter asked him a question he had not expected, “Harry, how’s your love life.  There were reports that Ginny Weasley was yelling at you just before the attack on the wake.  I believe she was quoted as saying, ‘I wish that You-Know-Who had killed you.’  Is this true?”

 

          Hermione opened her mouth to respond, but Harry put his hand on her shoulder and spoke, “My love life, if I have one, has no bearing on the attack on Fred’s wake.  I will not sit back and have my life examined like a bug under glass,” he said looking pointedly at Rita.

 

            Paracelsus Persimmon from The Quibbler stood again and shouted, “But dear boy, your love life is important to our readers!  We know that you went to visit Ms. Luna Lovegood in the closed ward last night at St. Mungo’s, we know that she was the cause of your argument with Ms. Weasley, we know that you were the last one seen with her at St. Mungo’s before she disappeared.  What have you done with Ms. Lovegood?  My employer is most anxious to see his daughter alive and whole.  I ask you again, what did you do to Ms. Lovegood?”

 

          Harry voice started to rise in anger, “I didn’t do anything to Luna.  I could never hurt Luna or Ginny.  All I can tell you is that Luna went missing from St. Mungo’s.  When I went to visit her, she was sitting up beside a friend’s bed, but when I went back with a Healer, she was missing.  I can tell you that she did not suffer the Dementor’s Kiss, no matter what your sources say.  I will not answer any further questions about Luna or Ginny.  If any of you ask any more questions about them, then this press conference will be over!”

 

          Rita Skeeter hardly waited for the shocked silence before she asked nastily, “So, Mr. Potter, I understand that you were unable to prevent the death of Ms. Gabrielle Delacour.  I have reports that she was trampled to death by the crowd trying to escape the attackers.”

 

          Ron stood up and shouted, “Don’t talk to Harry like that you Harpy.  Harry would have saved Gabrielle if he could have.  He—”

 

          Harry interrupted Ron, “No, Ron, I accept the responsibility for Gabrielle’s death.  I was right by the crowd at the music stage when the attack started.  I could see Gabrielle, but I lost sight of her when the first attacker appeared on the stage.  I stunned him when I could have been saving Gabrielle.  It’s my fault that she died.”

 

          Ron turned his anger on Harry, “If you hadn’t stunned that attacker, then who else might he have killed?  You can’t take responsibility for something you didn’t cause!”  Flashbulbs went off, capturing the tableau of an angry Ron shouting at Harry.

 

          Hermione yanked Ron down to a sitting position in a none too gentle fashion as Harry continued speaking, “I know that many of you look up to me as a hero.  The real heroes at the battle were Bill and Fleur Weasley and Neville Longbottom.  When I went racing off to fight attackers, they were evacuating children out of danger.  They were the ones who kept a clear head and did what needed to be done.”  Tears started to spill down Harry’s cheeks as he continued, “Fleur Weasley, even when she was distraught because she couldn’t find Gabrielle still managed to save children by taking them to her home.”  Harry turned his head to face Ron, “No, Ron, I need to shoulder some of the responsibility for Gabrielle’s death.”

 

          Flashbulbs popped again, this time capturing Harry’s tears.  

 

          Harry took a moment to gather himself before he continued the press conference.  Harry answered a few more general questions about the wake, including the presence of the fireworks tent that exploded and his role in fighting off the attack on Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley and George.

 

          Harry stood up to give his closing statement, “I want to say that even though this Ministry lied to us about the Dementors, that they did it to try and protect us.  It is very different from Fudge’s Ministry lying about Voldemort coming back.  Fudge wasn’t really trying to prevent a panic; he was just trying to hold onto his own fading power.  Minister Shacklebolt is a good man who is not in love with his own power.”

 

          Only the people at the table saw what Harry saw next:  Luna, still in her hospital gowns, barely covered over by a Healer’s robe crept into the garden through the unlocked side gate.  She was dirty, her hair all tangled and snarled, skinned knees peeking out from under her stolen robe and hospital gown.  Harry lost all perspective in what he was saying, finding that Luna was the only thing he saw.  He vaulted the table, all feelings of weariness gone for the moment, and ran to where Luna stood just inside the gate, clinging desperately to the gate to keep from falling.  He arrived just in time to catch Luna in his arms as she started to fall to the earth.  Flashbulbs popped again as Harry carried Luna into the Burrow.


	11. A Soulscape in Crisis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry enters Luna's troubled soulscape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not come up with the idea of the soulscape. It is a common trope to be inside someone else's mind. I first saw it called a 'soulscape' in the works of P.C. Hodgell (highly recommended).

            Harry strode up the steps from the garden into the kitchen with vigour in his step, all weariness forgotten.  With Luna cradled gently in his arms, he had a hard time managing the door, but Ron appeared suddenly at his side, opening the door.  Shouting reporters followed behind yelling questions.  Harry could make out some of the questions as he entered the Burrow.

 

            “Mr. Potter, what are you doing to Ms. Lovegood?”

 

            “Mr. Potter, how do you think Ms. Weasley will react to this home-wrecker in her house?”

 

            “Mr. Potter, do you really expect our readers to believe that you had nothing to do with her disappearance?”

 

            From where Harry stood in the kitchen, gently placing Luna on the table, he could see Hermione.  Hermione stepped in front of Rita Skeeter as she was trying to force her way into the Burrow.  Hermione spoke sharply to her, “This press conference is over.”

 

          Looking over the assembled reporters, she spoke, “None of you are permitted inside the house proper.  No more questions.”  

 

          Ignoring a final flurry of questions, she entered the kitchen, closing and locking the door behind her with her wand.  Harry glanced her way before returning his attention to Luna.  Luna lay on the table, her breathing fast and shallow, her skin pale and drawn.  Harry leaned over and touched her gently on her brow.  

 

          “Hermione, she’s so cold,” Harry said quietly, sitting down as sudden fatigue struck again.

 

          As Hermione was moving to check over Luna, Mrs. Weasley came bustling into the kitchen with Mr. Weasley and George behind her.  Taking one look at Luna, she announced, “She needs to go right back to St. Mungo’s.  Harry, take her along and we’ll be right behind you.”

 

          “No, don’t take me back.  If you take me back there, I’ll die,” Luna said weakly, trying to sit up on the side of the table.

 

          Harry moved quicker than anyone else could react, standing from his place at the table and gathering Luna onto his lap before she could hurt herself struggling to sit up.  

 

          Mrs. Weasley all but shouted, “Now listen here, young lady, you are going to return to St. Mungo’s and submit yourself to a Healer’s care!”

 

          “I’m of age now and I’m not going back to St. Mungo’s.  If you feel the need, you can bring a Healer here,” Luna said simply and gently, but in a tone that made it clear that she was serious.

 

          “Alright then, if that’s the way it’s going to be,” Mrs. Weasley stated in a dangerous tone.  She turned, grabbed George and told him, “George, go to St. Mungo’s and come back with a Healer.  Let them know that we’ve got Luna here.  I don’t care how you do it, but make sure that you return with a Healer.”

 

          George whipped his wand out of his pocket, and turned to Disapparate, but his wand only made a squeaking noise.  Sheepishly, he reached into his other pocket and pulled out another wand, stowed the joke wand, then he turned and Disapparated.  

 

          Hermione asked Mrs. Weasley, “Where’s Ron?”

 

          “He went to fetch Xenophilius,” Mrs. Weasley replied.  Moving with a purpose toward Harry and Luna, she spoke, “Get her up into Ginny’s room, and I’ll get the spare bed from the attic.”  

 

          Everyone just stared at each other for a moment before she yelled, “Move!”

 

          Harry hoisted Luna into his arms again, marveling at his renewed strength and carried Luna up to Ginny’s room.   Ginny slept on, oblivious to all the shouting and bustle from below.  Luna’s breathing was still coming shallow and fast as Harry held her.  She whispered in his ear as they were waiting for Mrs. Weasley to bring the spare bed, “Thanks for being here for me, Harry.”  

 

          Mrs. Weasley hurried into the room with the collapsed bed floating along behind her.  Flicking her wand at the bed in a quick, well-practiced pattern, she soon had the bed set up next to Ginny’s.  Mr. Weasley came in with well-worn, but clean linens for the bed and together Mr. and Mrs. Weasley made the bed.  Harry placed Luna onto the bed and made sure she was safe under the covers.  Looking down at her, he saw that she had lapsed back into blankness.  

 

          Mrs. Weasley broke the silence, “Harry, you stay here with them until the Healer arrives.”  She and Mr. Weasley left the room, leaving Harry with a blank-faced Luna and a sleeping Ginny.

 

          From down the stairs, Harry could hear muffled conversation between Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Hermione, but he could not make out the words.  Harry sat down between Luna and Ginny, reached down inside the blankets and took Luna’s hand.  A sudden dizzying surge struck him, and he almost fell from his seat.  Gripping Luna tightly with one hand and gripping his chair tightly with his other hand, he raised his head, looked directly into Luna’s glazed over eyes and spoke with a quavering voice.

 

          “Luna, please, I don’t think I could bear to lose you too.  Please don’t die.  Please, please don’t leave me.  We’ve barely started together and I don’t think I could go on not knowing what could happen between us.  When I’m with you, I feel my strength and courage return.  When you’re not with me, I feel weak and incomplete.  Please, Luna, don’t go away.  I love you.”  Harry rested his face next to Luna’s and stroked her matted hair gently.

 

          Luna’s eyes returned to normal from their vacant state, and she turned her head to Harry and moved to kiss his tears away.  She spoke softly into his ear, “Harry, don’t say you love me unless you mean it.  Please wait until all this is over, then if you want to tell me that you love me, then I could accept it.  Right now, I’m afraid it’s just the Dementor inside me that’s connecting us like this.”

 

          “What do you mean the Dementor inside you?” Harry asked, concern growing upon his face.

 

          “After you went down to Voldemort’s camp, I was attacked by a Dementor, but instead of destroying me, he got caught up inside my soulscape,” Luna stated.

 

          Harry interrupted, “What do you mean by soulscape?  Ginny talked about being caught in a Dementor’s soulscape, too, but I don’t understand what she meant.”

 

          Luna looked Harry directly in his eyes, making Harry shake a bit with the intensity of her gaze, then she spoke, “A soulscape is a metaphor for a person’s soul.  It’s what they picture their soul looking like inside.  It would be easier to show you if you’re willing.”

 

          Harry looked at her intensely, then he nodded.

 

          Luna kept her gaze locked on his eyes, then said, “I’m going to try to draw you into my soulscape, it should be quite easy with the Dementor connecting us, but it would be even easier if you had ever used a Pensieve.”

 

          Harry replied, “I’ve used Professor Dumbledore’s Pensieve a few times.  I know how they work.”

 

          Luna looked with interest at Harry, the first real, Luna-like interest he had seen on her face since her return.  Luna looked at him for a long moment, then spoke, “You’ll have to tell me about that sometime.  Ready?”

 

          Harry nodded again, then he was lost, falling into a grey void.  The cold sensation of traveling out of his body came to him, so similar to falling into a memory in a Pensieve, but somehow different.  It took Harry a moment to figure out what was different.  When he entered a memory in the Pensieve, he could observe but not interact with the memory.  Inside the Pensieve, he was a wraith, devoid of substance, but here, traveling into Luna’s mind, he felt that he had substance.

 

          As the greyness thinned, he could feel another difference.  Luna’s presence surrounded him like a blanket.  He could feel what it felt like to be Luna, always an outsider, always alone but never lonely.  He could feel the connection between them stretching taut like a lifeline connecting two mountain climbers.  The greyness cleared completely and Harry could see.

 

          Harry gazed around in wonder. Fences ran here and there, making enclosures for mundane and magical animals.  Neat paths wound between the enclosures, bounded by green grass and signs describing the animals.  Harry moved closer to a sign and read it: 

 

          ‘The Blistering Blunce:  This creature lives in the shadow of active volcanoes and is fond of eating ground pumice.  It is equipped with a crushing claw and a prehensile hand.  Note how the Blistering Blunce moves by expelling hot gas from its hollow legs, utilizing them as jets.  It is dangerous if cornered.’

 

          “ _Her soulscape is a bestiary.  No wonder she sees things we don’t.”_   Harry looked closer at the bestiary and he could sense something wrong.  No animals played or grazed, no animals nosed curiously close to the fences.  Harry looked around again, more closely.  Finally spying an animal hiding behind a rock, he hurried over to observe.  

 

          The strange purplish-brown creature sat down in a patch of its own faeces, breathing heavily and emitting a noxious odor.  Its horn hung limply to one side, and its legs twitched uncontrollably.  Harry hurried to look at more enclosures, but no matter where he went, the scene repeated; animals too sick to move, or animals moving listlessly and without purpose.

 

          Luna’s voice spoke directly into Harry’s mind, “ _Move up the path to the red building you can see to the right.”_

  
            
           Harry turned and looked to the right, quickly spying the large brick building with a sign over it that read, “Dangerous Creatures.”  Harry hustled up the path to the building, noting how the path to it twisted and switched back on itself as he did so.  As he approached the building, he could see a large steel door that had been ripped from its hinges lying inside the building.  Moving cautiously into the building, he stepped carefully over the crumpled door.  Looking around, he saw a variety of creatures behind thick safety glass.  He recognised the baby Horntail Dragon and the Blast-Ended Skrewt, but had no idea what the humanoid figure wreathed in flames was.  He moved closer to read the legend on the sign under its cage, but Luna’s voice spoke again, “ _This is no time to look at the Heliopath.  Open your mind, look for a black line coming from your heart and follow it.”_

 

            Harry paused, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.  He tried relaxing and centering himself.  _“I’ve never been very good at calming myself and trying to focus my mind,”_ he thought.  Harry tried relaxing, but his mind kept whirling in sickening lurches, “ _It’s my fault Gabrielle died, it’s my fault Ginny’s sick.  God, how can I help Luna, Ginny, or Dean if I can’t even help myself?”_

 

          Luna’s voice spoke into his head again, “ _Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Harry, focus.  Think calming thoughts; think about relaxing on a moonlit evening, resting in your Common Room at Hogwarts.  Think about being on a beach, letting the warm waves lap over you.  Think about resting in a warm bed with a comforter snuggled up around you on a cold winter’s day.  Think about last night, think about being with me.”_

           Harry snapped out of the reverie that she had just begun to project over him, “What do you mean, think about being with you last night?”

 

           Luna’s voice in his mind had a strange, bubbling laugh as she answered, “ _You know, last night when we made love next to Ron while he slept.  I thought you were different from other boys, and wouldn’t forget so soon.”_

           Harry spoke again, “But, that was just a dream, wasn’t it?  It wasn’t real.”

 

          Harry could feel her laughing again as she replied, “ _It was a dream we shared.  All dreams are real, Harry.  You remember your dreams, you feel them as if they happened in the real world, you experience them fully.  Never think that your dreams aren’t real, Harry.  This shared dream was more real than you could ever know.  Sharing your energy through our lovemaking kept me alive and going last night when I thought I had exhausted all my energy.  I didn’t mean to almost absorb all your energy, but you saved me, just like you would have if you had been next to me in the real world.  I can only imagine what the other passengers of the Knight Bus thought about my thrashing and moaning as I writhed in my seat, I was kind of distracted at the time.”_

          Harry asked, “How did you get on the Knight Bus?”

 

           Luna shot back, “ _Harry, there’s no time for this, we can talk about my escape later.  Now think calming thoughts again, close your eyes.”_ Luna started thinking calming thoughts and projecting them to Harry:  a warm fireplace, a cozy cup of tea in the morning, the feel of a soft sweater, the gentle nose of a curious kitten.

 

          As Luna pictured the images, Harry could clearly see them projected into his mind.  Harry could feel his breathing deepen and relax as Luna kept flashing calming images at him.  Finally, after an image of him lazily flying over the Quidditch pitch at Hogwarts with a pink dappled sunset in the background, Luna’s voice came again, “ _Alright, Harry, open your eyes_.”

 

          Harry opened his eyes, feeling more relaxed then he had since before the battle with Voldemort at Hogwarts.  Looking around, he was amazed at how much more vibrant the colours seemed.  He looked down at his chest and could see a strange black cord coming from the area around his heart.  As he gazed at himself, he could also see Luna occupying the same space as him, like a double exposure in a photograph.  He could see a smaller silver cord connecting him and Luna.  He also saw two small silver cords emerging from Luna, going off in the distance out the open door of the building.  

 

          As he was looking at the small silver cords emerging from Luna, he felt a sudden pulse of weakness and looked as a lump traveled down the black cord away from the body he was sharing with Luna. The black lump moved away from Harry and gathered speed as it went, going through an open doorway and around a corner deeper into the building.  Harry felt a small surge of panic disturb his newly-found calmness and ran after the moving lump.  It outpaced Harry as he ran through the building.  Harry barely noticed the horrible creatures behind the glass as he ran through the building.  He rounded another corner, and came to a room with just one window in it.  

 

          The room shone with a silvery-grey mist, its dark wall colour blending into the background as the mist obscured it.  Harry looked down at the black cord coming from his body and followed it to the window.  The plaque below the window oozed with verdigris and dripped with green slime, obscuring the legend.  Harry gazed through the glass, trying to make out whatever was behind it, when suddenly, a Dementor swooped into view, trying to pass through the glass and attack Harry.  

 

          Instinctively, Harry pulled back and made himself smaller as he reached in his robes for his wand.  Harry’s searching hand didn’t find a wand; instead he found a small well-worn ivory bead.  Looking back at the Dementor, he found it plastered up against the glass, trying vainly to pass through the glass in an incorporeal form.  Something about the glass prevented the Dementor from passing through the glass.  Harry took the opportunity to tap on the glass, further enraging the Dementor.  The Dementor opened its maw as if to use its Kiss, resulting in another lump traveling down the cord connecting Harry’s body to the Dementor’s.  Harry felt another surge of weakness, but fought off the urge to just lie down and rest.  

 

          Harry looked up as the black lump reached the glass and started to ooze through.  Galvanised by the sight of the lump, Harry reached out and grabbed the cord where the lump pulsed.  Harry pulled on the cord, forcing the lump closer to his body.  Wrapping his hand behind the lump, Harry forced it centimetre by centimetre closer to his body.  The Dementor howled soundlessly behind the glass, mouth still open as if it were Kissing a victim.  Suddenly, the resistance ceased and Harry pushed the lump victoriously back into his body.  

 

          Harry felt an instant sensation of warmth and happiness as the lump passed back into his body.   Harry looked again at the cord connecting him to the Dementor and found a surprise.  The small ivory bead he had found in his pocket was now on the cord, resting right up against the window on Harry’s side of the glass.  “ _I must have slipped it onto the cord somehow when I was pulling on the lump.”_

 

          “ _That was brilliant, Harry!  I would never have thought to use Mum’s bead like that,” Luna’s_ voice said in a pleased manner.

 

          Harry spoke out loud, startling himself with the sound of his voice, “What do you mean, Mum’s bead?  How did it get into my pocket?”  Harry’s voice sounded strange to his ears, deeper and more resonant than normal, but somehow full of sympathy and kindness.  It took him a moment to figure out that he was hearing his voice as Luna heard it.  

 

          Luna’s voice spoke, “ _That bead was part of my Mum’s necklace.  I always keep it in my pocket to touch when I need comforting.  It’s got a special meaning to me.  If you like, sometime later when neither of us is in mortal danger, I’ll show you my memory of her when she died and the significance of the bead.”_

          Harry felt drawn to touch the bead.  He grabbed it and twirled it around the black cord, amazed at how familiar the bead felt beneath his fingertips.  He felt as if he knew every surface of the bead already, even down to the small chip marring its surface.  Suddenly, he felt a strong urge to pull on the bead.  He grabbed the bead and pulled it away from the surface of the glass where it was resting.  As he pulled, he could feel resistance coming from the Dementor on the other side of the glass.  Harry redoubled his efforts and yanked the bead with all his might.  A black lump arose on the other side of the glass, forcing its way out of the Dementor’s mouth and sticking briefly on its side of the glass before emerging on Harry’s side of the glass.  As Harry pulled even harder on the bead, the black lump followed, until it rested right against the bead that was now resting on Harry’s chest.  Harry looked down and thought, “ _What now?”_

          Just as he finished that thought, Luna’s delicate hand emerged from Harry’s chest and yanked the bead into Harry’s chest.   The black lump followed right after.  Harry fell to the ground, stomach clenched, gritting his teeth in pain as the bead entered him.  When the lump entered him, Harry felt invigorated, feeling not just some of his strength returning, but some of Luna’s as well.  As he concentrated on the newly-found strength now flowing into him, he could feel that some of it was Dean’s and Ginny’s, not just his and Luna’s.  He could feel the differences in their strengths; Dean’s quiet determination, Ginny’s fierce independence, Luna’s intellect and joy in the world, and his own courage when action was needed.

 

          Experimentally, he separated out the bit of the strength that was Luna’s and pushed it down the silver cord connecting their bodies.  He didn’t feel any weaker by doing it, but he could feel Luna getting stronger.  Strangely, the pulses of strength from Ginny and Dean followed Luna’s strength back into her body and mingled with Luna.  Seconds later, the pulses flowed out from Luna’s body.  Harry’s assumption that they were returning to Ginny and Dean was confirmed seconds later when Harry felt Ginny’s presence join his and Luna’s.  Harry could see Ginny’s form, as if off in the distance, reach out from her bed and grasp his hand.  Harry could clearly see into Ginny’s bedroom as if he was watching from inside Ginny.  He could see himself sitting on a chair between the two beds, Luna’s hand gripping Harry’s beneath the covers and Ginny’s hand reaching out and gripping his other hand.

 

           Harry returned his focus to the interior of the building.  He regarded the silently howling Dementor with contempt, stood, reached inside his body and pulled the bead out.   Pushing the bead back to the window, Harry concentrated on keeping his strength inside himself and on not drawing strength away from Luna.  Harry pushed the bead all the way up to the window, and then yanked it back with tremendous force.  A huge gout of inky black substance poured from the Dementor’s open mouth then flowed down the cord.  Harry yanked back on the bead viciously, pushing it inside himself with determination.

 

          As he pulled the bead into his body, the black lump of strength followed.  As strength and happiness poured back into his body, he could feel just how much energy had been stolen from him and Luna.  He sensed just how close Luna had come to dying after she had forced the Dementor to return Ginny’s spirit.  He could feel how Luna had drawn strength from both Harry and Dean to sustain her life and Ginny’s.  The strength that had returned this time was strangely mixed, harder to separate and return to its owners.  Harry concentrated and tried to separate out the bits of strength that belonged to Luna, but found that he couldn’t separate out his strength or Dean’s strength from it.  Ginny’s strength was easier to separate out and return to her through Luna.  As Harry pushed Ginny’s strength back through Luna, Luna started to glow as if surrounded by a nimbus of Patronus light, just like she had at Fred’s wake.  Harry watched as Ginny’s strength finished passing through Luna and down the cord that connected her to Ginny.  

 

          Harry pushed his awareness back to the room at the Burrow and watched as Ginny’s arched her back and moaned as her strength and power returned to her.  He could see her eyes widen with the awareness of just what was occurring.  Ginny turned her head and mouthed something at Harry, but Harry’s body was just sitting blankly, holding her hand with a firm grip.  Ginny sat up in bed, edged over to the side of it and embraced Harry around the back of his chair.  

 

            Pushing his awareness back to the inside of the building, Harry could feel Ginny’s warm presence now enveloping him and Luna.  He could feel not only her confusion, but also her unquestioning support. He could feel her adding her blessing to whatever it was that he was doing.  Harry turned his attention back to the ball of strength that was slowly melting back into his body.  His mind felt suddenly sharper and he attributed that to gaining some of Luna’s intellect.  

 

          Suddenly, in a flash of insight, Harry spotted why he couldn’t separate out Luna’s strength from Dean’s.  Harry noticed how the strengths co-mingled at their core, bleeding into each other.  He looked it over more closely, unconsciously using Leglimancy techniques that he had picked up from his Occlumency sessions with Professor Snape.  _“Obviously, picking up some of Luna’s intellect is helping me understand how to do this,”_ he thought.  He felt himself falling further into Luna’s memories as he probed the ball of strength.  As he passed completely into Luna’s memories, he thought, “ _A memory inside of a metaphor, how strange_.”

 

_Screams and shouts, Dementors swooping in.  If only Ginny hadn’t been so stubborn about coming back, we could have been in there fighting too.  There must be something I can do to get through this ring of Dementors.  “Use the Enveloping Patronus Charm.”  What?  Yes, the Enveloping Patronus, I remember now.  Ginny looks so scared for her family.  “Follow me.”  Glowing, glowing like a full moon.  My consciousness, where is it?  Ring of Dementors coming, concentrate on keeping the Charm up.  That one is going to touch me!  Pain, despair, lost hope, the pain of its destruction.  Harry, full heart, knight in armour coming to our rescue.  No!  Ginny fell.  That attacker has a wand pointed at me!  Harry saved me.  Where’s Ginny?  No!  “Use the Dementor, enter it—like this.  Blur of images—Incorporeal Charm, Enveloping Patronus Charm, Cheering Charm, Imperius Curse, combine them like this—blur of images.  “Don’t let that Dementor escape, Harry.”  Harry’s exhausted.  Got to feed him power.  I can take power from here.  The power tastes like Dean.  Who’s that?  He caught the Dementor.  What is this voice commanding from me?  “Force the Dementor to kiss her.  Push out from the Dementor, push her spirit back, it’s almost too late.”  Pain, horrible burning agony, got to draw happy thoughts.  Can’t take them from Harry.  Here, here are some happy thoughts._

_A letter from someplace called Hogwarts.  I’m a wizard, that explains a lot.  My father must have been a wizard.  Why did he leave Mum?  My first day at Hogwarts, how strange and wonderful.  Kissing Ginny, so nice, she smells so good.  Maybe she’ll let me…Too bad about Ginny, but that Luna’s nice even though she’s strange.  DA meetings are a good time to get to know her better.  Shell Cottage, kissing Luna behind a tree.  Getting to visit with Xenophilius, laughing at his outrageousness.  Snuggling up to Luna on her bed as her Dad sleeps next door._

_Pain, passing out.  Merlin, did I steal all of Dean’s happy memories?  What did I do to him?_

           Harry felt his awareness snap out of the memory in a memory.  He could feel Luna’s horror at what she had done.  Luna’s voice spoke into Harry’s mind, “Harry, Dean didn’t suffer a Dementor’s Kiss, I did that to him, trying to save you and Ginny.  I sacrificed Dean for you two.”

 

          Harry spoke, “Luna, I was there.  I saw that you didn’t understand what you were doing at the time.  You were just acting on instinct.  I do it all the time, I understand how you feel.  Maybe we can fix this.”  Harry looked down at the ball of strength that he had been unconsciously separating while immersed in Luna’s memories. Harry noticed strange dribs and drabs of other people’s memories and strengths intermingled with his, Dean’s and Luna’s, but could see no way to remove them.   “ _They must be past victims of the Dementor and this is all that’s left of their psyche,”_ he thought.  He could clearly sense parts of Dean’s strength and happy thoughts combined with Luna’s, but he sensed instinctively how to separate them and flow them back to their proper owner.

 

          “Luna, I think that we **can** fix this,” Harry stated.  “We’ve got to get to St. Mungo’s.  I think that we can draw your power back from the Dementor and then I can separate it out and sent it back to Dean through you, but I think that proximity will make a difference.”

 

          Harry felt Luna’s mute agreement, and pushed his awareness back out of her soulscape and into his body.  He felt a lurch of disorientation as he passed back into his body, and waited for the room to stop spinning before looking more closely at Luna.  She looked much more alive, her skin colour still pale, but no longer papery.  Her breathing had slowed to a normal, sleeping state, not the staccato breaths of earlier.  Harry became aware of a gentle embrace, arms wrapped around him from behind.  As he turned his head to see, Ginny’s gentle hand cupped his chin and pulled him into a gentle kiss.  

 

          The kiss lingered, even after Ginny pulled back.  Harry could still feel her warming presence enveloping him, even after returning to his body.  Finally, Ginny broke the silence, “Harry, I could see your memories and feel your feelings while you were doing whatever it is you were doing to save her.  You really love her, don’t you?”

 

          “I—I want to say yes, but Luna warned me that it might just be a connection created between us by the Dementor,” Harry stammered.  He continued, “No, I do love her, but I also love you, Ginny.  I don’t understand just what I’m feeling.  Did you see what she did at Fred’s wake?”

 

          Ginny replied, eyes widening in grief, “She took all of Dean’s happy memories to strengthen herself to save us.”

 

          Harry turned in his chair to face Ginny, “Ginny, I think we can save Dean if we get to St. Mungo’s right away.  Do you trust me?”

 

          “With my life, Harry,” she answered, gripping him tightly and kissing his brow, “with all my heart.”

 

          Harry reached over and shook Luna awake gently.  Luna’s eyes brightened to nearly normal as she awakened and noted Harry and Ginny both looking awake and hearty.

 

          Harry drew Ginny closer to Luna’s bed and whispered conspiratorially to both of them, “Good, here’s the plan on how we’re going to get all of us to St. Mungo’s.”


	12. Return to St. Mungo's/Ginny's Soulscape

            Mrs. Weasley shrieked as she entered the bedroom, taking in the scene:  Ginny supine on the floor, vomit drying near her face, Harry slumped in his chair, his skin chalky and his eyes vacant,  Luna curled up on her side, her breathing shallow and fast again.  Mrs. Weasley rushed to Ginny’s side, shaking her gently to try and wake her.  She pulled a handkerchief from her robe pocket and wiped Ginny’s mouth as the Healer that George had brought back from St. Mungo’s went rushing past to Luna’s side.

 

            Hermione and George stood just outside the door, not wanting to interfere with the matronly Healer as she quickly checked the vitals of her three stricken patients.  Mrs. Weasley sat by Ginny’s side and held Ginny’s head in her lap as the healer efficiently checked on Luna first, then Harry.  Finally, after what seemed an eternity to the worried Mrs. Weasley, the Healer moved on to Ginny and knelt to examine her.

 

            The Healer broke the uncomfortable silence, “I thought you told me that Ginny was improving and that the Lovegood girl was coherent and speaking.”  She looked at Mrs. Weasley reprovingly.

 

            “I swear,” Mrs. Weasley replied, “that when Luna arrived, she looked terrible but was talking and making sense.”

 

            George interjected nervously from near the door, “At least as much sense as she ever does.”  

 

            Without turning her gaze from Ginny, the Healer spoke again, “Young man, if you’re just going to make rude comments, you may leave.”  Turning to face Mrs. Weasley the Healer added, “We’re going to need to take them all to St. Mungo’s right away.  I don’t know exactly what happened to them, but it’s not a classic case of a Dementor’s Kiss.  We’ve got to assume that whatever affected them is dangerous.  I’m going to send Ginny on ahead, and then I’m going to leave as well.  In a few minutes I will send back Portkeys that will send the other two directly to a quarantined ward.  The Portkey will be a bracelet that you put on their wrist.  After you snap the bracelet closed, it will take them to the quarantined ward ten seconds later.  If you don’t want to end up quarantined with them, you’ll need to make sure to not be touching them or their clothing when the Portkey goes off.  Understood?”

 

            Mrs. Weasley nodded and said, “Understood.”

 

            The Healer sighed, and spoke again, a little less patiently this time. “Not you,” she said addressing Mrs. Weasley, “You need to come with me to get Ginny settled in and the proper paperwork started.”  The Healer turned to Hermione, ignoring George, “Young lady, did you understand my instructions?”

 

            Hermione looked the Healer directly in the eye and said, “When the Portkeys arrive, they will be bracelets that I will snap on their wrists.  I then have ten seconds to step away or risk being quarantined with them.”

 

            The Healer pulled her wand from one pocket of her robes, and pulled a bright blue metal bracelet stamped with “Quarantine” on it from another pocket.  She quickly bespelled the bracelet, turning it into a Portkey.  She snapped the bracelet onto Ginny’s wrist, and counted off the ten seconds until she disappeared with a loud popping noise.  Immediately after Ginny disappeared, the Healer grabbed Mrs. Weasley and Disapparated along with her.

 

            Before the sound of their Disapparition had even faded, Harry groaned, sat up and spoke to his astonished audience, “There’s not much time.  Hermione, Luna will need to borrow your wand, hers is still at St. Mungo’s with her clothing.”

 

            George moved into the room faster than even Hermione, and shouted at Harry, “What the bloody Hell did you do to Ginny?  I swear, if you’ve hurt her, I’ll…”

 

            Hermione shoved George out of the way, moving to sit on Ginny’s empty bed.  “Harry, you’ve got to tell us what’s going on.  We can help.”

 

            Luna sat up, looking at George, “I’m making sense right now, George.  I promise that we didn’t hurt Ginny.  She just used a Puking Pastille to make it look more real.”

 

            Harry stood up, and spoke loudly, “No time for this.  Please, Hermione, if you trust me, let Luna borrow your wand.”  

 

            Turning to address George, Harry said, “George, I need you to leave a note for Ron and Mr. Lovegood about where we’ve gone.  When you get to St. Mungo’s, I’ll need you to go visit Dean and make sure he’s alright.  If what we have planned goes the way we think it will, all you’ll need to do is get a Healer when Dean wakes up.  If it all goes pear-shaped, then I trust you to improvise.”

 

            George glowered at Harry, “Look, mate, I trust you, but if it all goes wrong, you’ll find that I’m not just a joker.”  George stalked from the room to take care of his tasks.

 

            Harry waited for him to leave, turned to Hermione and begged, “Please, Hermione, trust me.”

 

            Luna looked at the indecisive Hermione and spoke earnestly, “Look, Hermione, I know that you think I’m dotty, or crazy or stupid or whatever, but I promise that Harry knows what he’s doing and that I’m the only one who can help him.”

 

            Hermione looked them both over sharply, pulled out her wand and handed it over to Luna.  She leaned over, kissed Harry on the cheek and said, “I do trust you, Harry.  I hope whatever you have planned goes well.”  

 

            Moving to Luna’s side, she embraced Luna and told her, “I don’t think you’re stupid, Luna, or crazy.  Dotty, maybe,” she smiled, “but I know that you would do anything to help Ginny, and I can see that you really do care for Harry.  Good luck.”

 

            Two blue bracelets appeared on the floor with a small sound.  Hermione gathered up the bracelets.  Looking at Harry and Luna, she asked, “Ready?”

 

            They both nodded.  Hermione snapped on Harry’s bracelet first, then Luna’s.  Immediately after receiving their bracelets, they both went back to their sham.  Harry reclined on his bed again and his eyes went vacant; Luna collapsed on her bed and her breathing became shallow and fast again.  Ten seconds later they disappeared, with Hermione’s worried face watching them.

 

            Harry and Luna appeared in beds next to each other in a small closed ward.  A small, pale Healer dressed in a bright orange jumpsuit attended to Ginny, checking her over very thoroughly.  Ginny had already been dressed in a hospital gown and her clothes were piled tidily in the corner.  The matronly Healer came into the room, with a whoosh of air surrounding her from the small room adjoining the closed ward.  She began to remove Luna’s stolen Healer’s robe and hospital gown.  She dressed Luna in a new gown.  Then she repeated the process with Harry.  She folded their clothes neatly, checking the pockets thoroughly and putting the contents in large manila bags labeled with the patient’s name and the contents of their pockets.  Finally, she finished and turned to the small, pale Healer.

 

            “Anything you can tell me?” she asked the pale Healer.

 

            He spoke in a surprisingly deep voice for one so slight, “No, I don’t know what’s affecting her.  I’m going to check out the other two.”

 

            The Healer moved on to Harry and started checking his vitals.  The Healer pulled out his wand and began to move it over Harry’s body.  

 

            “I don’t understand.  I can’t find anything wrong with this boy.  It seems like he’s just asleep or shamming,” he said to the other Healer.  “I’m going to try something.”

 

            He pointed his wand at Harry and said, “ _Legilimens_!”

 

            Before Harry had time to react, the Healer started sorting through his memories.  Harry tried to blank his mind, but his mind just whirled with images.  The Healer started sorting faster through the images, like a speed reader with a book.  Harry watched as the Healer reached his recent memories; seeing his shared dream with Luna and the planning in Ginny’s bedroom.  Desperately, Harry grabbed at the memories to keep them from flowing into the waiting mind of the Healer, but the pull of the Healer was too strong.  Harry instinctively reached into his memories, selecting a painful one and thrust it at the Healer.

 

            A scene began to form in Harry’s mind.  The Healer appeared on the floor of a forest, surrounded by Death Eaters.  Voldemort stepped forward and said something unheard.  Harry watched as the Healer desperately tried to stand and escape, but couldn’t escape the strength of Harry’s memory.  As Harry watched, Voldemort raised his wand, mouthed something and a green jet struck the Healer in the chest.  Suddenly, the pressure of the Healer’s mind on Harry’s mind stopped.  Harry’s mind reeled from the sudden release of pressure, reliving those few moments with Dumbledore in King’s Cross before snapping back to his present.  

 

            Harry watched, disembodied, as the Matronly Healer moved to her stricken comrade.  The small, pale Healer had collapsed, seemingly struck down by whatever malady had affected the trio of young people in the ward.  “ _I didn’t mean to pull that memory out.  I hope the memory of the Killing Curse isn’t strong enough to damage him permanently,”_ Harry thought.  

 

            After what seemed like an eternity of fussing with the small, pale Healer, the matronly Healer finally got him settled into a bed and checked over.  She moved to Harry’s bed and started to look him over.  She didn’t notice as Ginny opened her eyes, and stealthily slipped out of bed.  The Healer must have heard some slight noise from behind her, and started to turn.  Harry quickly pushed his consciousness forward again and grabbed the Healer’s arm.  “Water,” he croaked hoarsely, as Ginny finally got her envelope of possessions open.  

 

            The Healer reached for the pitcher of water and the glass by Harry’s bedside, but never quite reached it as Ginny’s stunner hit her square in the back.  The Healer fell slumped over Harry, and it took all his strength to lift her off of him and place her in his bed in his place.  

 

            Luna opened her eyes and said, “I don’t think we have much time.  I can swear that I feel Dean slipping away as we used all this power getting here.”

 

            Ginny ripped open the other envelopes, handing Harry his wand and giving Hermione’s wand to Luna.  Ginny waved her wand at the window that exposed their ward to the hallway, saying, “ _Obscurus.”_ The window darkened.  Ginny then waved her wand at the door, “ _Colloportus_ ,” gluing it shut.  

 

            The trio of young people sat on the floor and held hands.  Luna looked Harry and Ginny over, her eyes glistening, “Harry, Ginny, are you ready?”

 

            Harry nodded and said, “Yes.”  Ginny simply nodded.

 

            Luna closed her eyes, her breathing deepened and Harry could feel himself being drawn into Luna’s soulscape again.  He watched, fascinated as the bestiary appeared around them, slowly fading into focus.  This time, Luna stood next to him, holding his hand tightly, instead of occupying the same space as Harry.  Harry looked at Luna standing next to him, seeing her as Luna saw herself.  Luna looked smaller and more child-like, her eyes bulged much more than in reality, her skin pale as alabaster and her hair nearly colourless.  Her robes clung to her, showing her as little more than skin and bones.

 

            Harry felt the landscape shift a little when Ginny appeared next to him, holding his and Luna’s hands.  Harry looked at Ginny as Luna saw her.  Ginny stood tall, taller than Harry, muscled like an Amazon, with a fierce intensity to her eyes.  Her hair blazed in a vibrant fiery red, gathered at her back in a pony-tail.  When Ginny spoke, her voice rang like a bell. “Is this how you see me and Harry?” she asked, looking Harry over carefully.  Harry returned the gaze, looking over Ginny the same way.

 

            Luna finally waved her hands in front of their faces.  “Saving Dean, remember?” she asked, “That’s why we’re here.”  She reached down, grabbed their hands again and dragged them toward the small brick building that housed the Dementor.   They hurried through the building, Harry and Luna occasionally stopping to drag Ginny along from her gawping.  After only a few moments, they reached the misty room that housed the Dementor.  The Dementor had obviously hidden somewhere behind the glass, as it was not visible when they entered the room.  

 

            Harry turned to Luna and said, “Luna, I need you to help me relax again, so I can see the threads that connect us to the Dementor.”

 

            Luna nodded her understanding and moved to Harry, embracing him.  Ginny stepped back into the corner of the room by the window housing the Dementor and pulled her wand out of her robes.  Luna reached up, closed Harry’s eyes gently by passing her hands over them, then kissed them both.  She gave Harry a gentle, brief kiss on the mouth before gripping him by the hands and closing her own eyes.

 

            Harry once again felt the relaxing images pass through him as Luna gave him peace.  Once again, he felt the strange connection between him and Luna, but this time, he felt a third connection.  The third connection flowed strongly from Luna to Ginny, and less strongly from him to Ginny.  When Harry felt relaxed like he had earlier, he opened his eyes and could see the threads connecting Luna to the Dementor, and Harry and Ginny to Luna.  Harry examined the thread connecting him to Ginny, puzzled.  

 

            Turning to Luna, he asked, “Why do I have a thread connecting me to Ginny?”

 

            Luna responded, “It’s because you love her, Harry.”

 

            Ginny looked curiously at them both before asking, “You can see the connections again, Harry?”

 

            Harry answered, “Yes, I can.  We need to get on with this.”

 

            Harry reached into the pocket of his robes, grabbed the bead and slipped it onto the cord that connected Luna to the hiding Dementor.  Harry moved the bead down to the window and pulled it back with great force.  From its hiding space in the far corner of the enclosure, the Dementor suddenly swooped forward, following the inky lump traveling down the cord.  It hit the window with great force at exactly the same time as the lump did.   

 

            With a tremendous crash the window shattered, covering Ginny and Harry in broken glass.  They both flinched back from the shattering glass instinctively as the Dementor swooped down onto Harry and forced his mouth open. Ginny fell on the floor, stunned as the heavy safety glass hit her.   Silvery threads started flowing from Harry’s mouth into the Dementor’s open maw.  At that same moment, Harry’s hands convulsed and he pushed the bead with its inky lump following toward Luna.  Luna grabbed the bead and pushed it into her body.  As she did, Harry could feel the Dementor’s grip release.  He shared the Dementor’s pain as Luna’s and Dean’s memories and strength flowed out from it into Luna.  

 

            The Dementor let go of Harry with a soundless snarl, reached down and grabbed the thread connecting Harry to Ginny.  With a flash, it disappeared down the thread, its inky robes shrinking as it passed into the cord and into Ginny.  Ginny’s eyes opened with understanding, but immediately darkened over to black from their normal brown.  From her prone position, she raised her wand, pointed it at Harry and shouted, “ _Avada Kedavra!_ ”  Harry flinched back, ready for the green jet and oblivion.  

 

            A green glow began to coalesce around the tip of Ginny’s wand, then faded as Ginny’s eyes reverted to their normal brown.  Ginny collapsed soundlessly, and began to implode slowly, silver gas escaping from her mouth.  

 

            Without thinking, Harry reached down to the thread connecting him and Ginny and forced himself into it.  He felt his body compress and twist as he traveled the cord into Ginny’s soulscape.  He could see Luna’s concerned expression for only a moment before he fell fully into Ginny’s soulscape.

 

            Harry looked around and got his bearings, immediately recognising where he had landed:  The Chamber of Secrets.  

 

            The scene before him fitted exactly with his memory of his first encounter with The Chamber of Secrets.  Ginny lay on the floor, crumpled just before the giant statue that dominated the Chamber.  As Harry ran to where Ginny lay on the floor, Tom Riddle stepped from behind a pillar.  

 

            The apparition spoke, “There’s no escape this time, Harry Potter, no friends to save you.  No Dumbledore to catch you as you fall, no Snape to betray me, no parent’s love to save you or your little girlfriend.”

 

            As Riddle spoke, Harry looked him over carefully, and finally saw what he had expected:  Riddle’s eyes were completely black.

 

            Riddle continued on, “You thought you had defeated me, boy.   Thought that merely destroying the Horcruxes and my body would stop me.  My spirit lives on and will live on forever in your twisted memories.  My spirit in your memories will crush your puny minds and destroy you.  I think I’ll start by destroying her.”  Riddle turned toward the statue and began to hiss in Parseltongue, “ _Speak to me, Slytherin_ …”

 

            Harry pulled out his wand and interrupted, “You forgot, Riddle, that I know you’re merely the Dementor controlling Ginny’s memory.  _Expecto Patronum!”_

 

            Harry’s silver stag Patronus ripped across the chamber and struck Riddle full in the chest, causing the Riddle face to melt off like wax.  The Dementor shrieked as it became exposed and Harry’s Patronus kept butting it with its antlers.  It knocked the Dementor over and began to savage the Dementor with its antlers.  As it did, Harry could see threads began to form around the Dementor as it sent strength back out.  The Dementor began to fray at the edges and fall into inky black nothingness as he watched.  Harry kept his concentration on his Patronus, unwilling to let the Dementor escape again.  

 

            Harry gasped in sudden pain as memories that weren’t his came flooding into him.  _I can’t believe that’s Harry Potter, he’s so cute with that hair.  I wish I could go to Hogwarts.  A mixture of persimmon and clove should help keep Dementors out.  Does the King know not that his mistress plans to betray him?  No, I didn’t kill those Muggles, it was Peter, Peter!  Mother loves me still, even if father disowned me._

            Harry fell to the ground in pain, his Patronus dissolving into silver gas.  The Dementor took its opportunity to escape, flying back up the shaft that connected the Chamber of Secrets to Hogwarts.  As it fled, Harry stood with effort and went to Ginny.  He shook her gently and she fluttered her eyes.  As she regained her awareness, the Chamber of Secrets faded away, revealing Ginny’s bedroom at the Burrow.  Ginny no longer lay on the ground, but instead in her bed.  She pulled Harry down into a passionate kiss.  Harry let her kiss him for a moment, and then pulled back.  

 

            “Ginny,” he said, “we’ve got to get back to Luna and help Dean.  The Dementor escaped again, we can’t let it regain its strength.”

 

            Ginny looked up at Harry regretfully, and said, “Okay, Harry, take me back and we’ll finish this off.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N I would like to thank my bet Bella_Portia for the suggestion of the Chamber of Secrets for Ginny's soulscape.


	13. Harry's Soulscape

            Harry grabbed Ginny and let his consciousness flow back from Ginny’s soulscape of the Burrow to Luna’s bestiary.  Harry looked around the misty room with trepidation, eyes searching for Luna.  The room mocked him with its emptiness.  He looked down to see where the cords that bound him and Luna together led, but saw only himself as he normally saw himself.  He looked at Ginny, clinging tightly to him, and saw her as he normally saw her, not as Luna saw here.

 

            “Ginny,” he said nervously, “something’s wrong here.  I’m seeing myself like I normally do and not as Luna does.”

 

            Ginny answered wearily, “Do you see Luna anywhere?”

 

            Harry stood, helping Ginny stand before he answered, “No, I don’t see Luna.  I should be able to track her by the cords that bind us, but I can’t see them right now.  I think I’m too wound up.”

 

            Ginny looked Harry over before replying, “Harry, you’ve got to relax so you can track the Dementor.  That thing could be in Luna right now, regaining its strength.”

 

            Harry thought a moment then said, “But, we’re in Luna right now, too.  I mean, we’re in her soul, so we should be able to see the Dementor if it’s around.”

 

            “Harry, we could search this place forever and not find it unless you have some way to track it,” Ginny said, losing patience.  “And I don’t think we have very long to find Luna before it regains its strength and drains Dean.  I can feel him slipping away, too.”

 

            Harry closed his eyes and tried to relax, but only saw images of Luna having been given the Dementor’s Kiss, and of Dean shriveling up in his hospital bed into a wrinkled bag of flesh, barely distinguishable as human.  Harry deepened his breathing and tried to clear his head, concentrating with every last ounce of his power, trying to use the little bit of Occlumency he had learned to help out.  Harry firmly pushed the picture of a vacant-eyed, drooling Luna out of his mind, clearing a grey clean space.  Finally, he opened his eyes.

 

            Harry looked around and still did not see the cords connecting him to Luna, but he did see the small silver cord that connected him to Ginny.  

 

            “I don’t understand, Ginny,” he said, “I can see the cord connecting us, but not the one connecting me to Luna.”

 

            “But that doesn’t make sense, unless Luna is dead already,” Ginny quavered.

 

            “Wait, let me think,” Harry said.

 

            Harry sat down on the ground for a moment, then stood up quickly, struck by a sudden thought.   Looking down at the cord that connected him with Ginny, he grabbed it and started twisting it.  Ginny looked on fascinated as Harry pulled on an invisible cord and obviously worked on untwisting something.

 

            “I’ve got it, Ginny.  Luna’s inside me and she twisted together the cord from her to you with the cord from me to you to give it extra strength,” Harry stated.  “That means the Dementor’s inside me, too.  I’m going to have to go inside myself to find her.”

 

            Harry sat down again, closed his eyes and prepared to try to enter his own soulscape, when Ginny grabbed his arm and told him, “No way are you doing this without me.  Luna’s my friend, too.  We’ll help her together.”

 

            Ginny sat down facing Harry and they grabbed each others hands.  Harry concentrated on trying to enter his own soul, using the same technique that Luna had earlier when she had drawn him into her soulscape.  “ _It’s a good thing that I still have some of Luna’s intellect in me right now, or I never could do this.  I would never have been able to relax enough to enter my own soul.”_

 

            Harry and Ginny stood in a grey, misty plane.  Slowly the mist cleared, revealing his parent’s house in Godric’s Hollow as it stood when he was a baby.  Harry grabbed Ginny and ran toward the house, ignoring her questions as they raced.  Reaching the house, Harry saw that the front door had been blasted off its hinges.  He entered the house, heart racing.  He knew what to expect when he saw his father dead in the hallway, but stopped in horror when he saw his mother dead there, too, right next to his father.  

 

          “Harry, what is it?  What’s wrong?” Ginny asked.  “I know this is your parent’s house in Godric’s Hollow, I’ve been there.”

 

          Crying from up the stairs drew him to the nursery and he pulled Ginny along without answering her question.  Both of them stopped at the doorway, looking in disbelief at the scene in the room.  Luna stood over the crib, teasing baby Harry with a brightly coloured rattle, her hair turned black like a raven.  As she turned to them, they saw her eyes completely filled with black and lines crossed her face as if she had aged fifty years.  She moved jerkily, like she was resisting the control of the Dementor inside her.

 

          Luna spoke, Voldemort’s voice coming from her mouth, “I will be there soon, Harry.  This time there will be no Lily to prevent your death.  I wish that Severus could have been here to see her fate.  That Blood Traitor deserved his death by Nagini.  Throw down your wands and I’ll make sure that you die gently.  Resist and the pain will be intense.”

 

          Harry moved his wand, but the Dementor controlling Luna moved faster and put her lips over baby Harry’s mouth.  

 

          It spoke again, “Now, Harry, if you try that, I’ll be forced to kill you here, as a baby.  I’m quite sure it would kill your body to die as infant inside your own mind.  How long do you think it would take me to give the Dementor’s Kiss to a baby?  How many memories do you think a mind this fresh holds?  Do you think you could force me off before you die?”  

 

          Luna turned her hag-like face to Ginny, “And you girl, do you think you’d be fast enough to save your boyfriend.  You know he doesn’t love you anyway, he loves this girl.”  Luna ran her hands over her body seductively.  The Dementor continued from Luna’s lips, in Voldemort’s voice, “You know they made love just last night?  While everyone else slept in your house and you lay in your bed, sick.  They made love while everyone else suffered.  Would you want to save someone who would cheat on you like that?”

 

          Ginny moved faster than Harry would ever have believed, tackling Luna in one long jump from across the room.  The crib got knocked over by her momentum, sending baby Harry sprawling across the floor, bawling, but otherwise unhurt.  Ginny pinned Luna down on the floor and punched her across the jaw.  Luna struggled, her solid black eyes filled with malice.  Harry waited until there was an opening in their struggles, pointed his wand at Luna and shouted, “ _Expecto Patronum_!”

 

          Harry’s stag Patronus leapt from his wand, shoved Ginny out of the way with a shoulder and started savaging Luna with its antlers.  Luna’s eyes faded back to their normal blue colour as the Dementor left her and went through the floor of the nursery incorporeally.  Harry dismissed his Patronus before it could harm Luna more.  He took a closer look at her, trying to make sure the Dementor had really left her.  She looked to him like she always did, her face having reverted back to normal, except for some deep scratches left by Harry’s Patronus.

 

          Luna hugged Harry and clung to him as he helped her stand.  They both lowered hands and helped Ginny stand.  They looked each other over for a moment, one on each of Harry’s hands, before they both said simultaneously, “Is that really how you see her?”

 

          Harry looked at Luna first, carefully looking over her light blonde hair, her slightly bulgy eyes, her pale skin with her light eyebrows, then he moved his gaze over her body.  Slightly skinny with small breasts, narrow hips and a bit of a boyish figure.  He looked up into her face and saw what he usually saw there:  a lonely, but kind woman who wanted to be liked, a sympathetic woman who saw the best in everybody, the woman who saw the hurt in Harry and knew how to help him, how to be with him as a friend, how to calm him when he was upset, the woman he now knew he loved and that loved him.

 

          Harry then turned toward Ginny.  He looked her over from head to toe as well.  He started with her flaming red hair that traveled down her back, caught in a ponytail.  He looked at her honest face with its brown eyes and small freckles.  He looked down her body, amazed at how toned she was from Quidditch.  He noticed that she seemed taller than the last time he had seen her, but not as tall as Luna pictured her.  He looked back up into her eyes and saw what had attracted him to her:  her fierce independence and how she looked at him as an equal, not someone to be worshipped.  It may have started as a little girl crush, but Harry could see in her eyes that she loved him.  

 

          Harry finished his appraisals of the women, then said, “Yeah, that’s how I see you both.”

 

          They both giggled a bit, then laughed, Luna laughing long and hard after Ginny had stopped.  Ginny spoke up first, “Harry, I wish I was this fit.  I mean, I am fit from playing Quidditch, but I’m not this toned and firm.”  She flexed a steel-corded bicep.  “My hair’s not this long or quite this red either.”  She looked down into her robes and said, “Also, I wish my breasts were this full.  Obviously, you do, too.”  She blushed slightly as she laughed.

 

          Luna finally got hold of herself and said, “Harry, my hair is much more a dirty blonde, not quite this white-blonde.  I’m not a veela.  I’m certainly not this skinny, and I really do have hips.  You just can’t normally see them under my robes.”  She lifted her hand to her face, “Also, Harry, my eyes stick out much more than this, almost like a chameleon.”  She started laughing again.

 

           Harry looked her over, reevaluating how he saw her, but he could see no difference.  He spoke up, “Your eyes are NOT like a chameleon’s.  They don’t stick out nearly that far.”

 

          The two women giggled again, met each other’s eyes and fell in a heap laughing.  Baby Harry joined in with them, giggling from his crib.  The sound of baby Harry’s giggling seemed to affect everyone at once and the all stood and started to look around for the Dementor.  They heard the door open.  Harry hissed to the others, “That’s Voldemort.  Let’s get out of here before I get trapped and killed by my own memories.”

 

          “Think of home, Harry,” Luna said.  “Think of where you feel most comfortable.”

 

          Harry closed his eyes and concentrated.  Slowly the scene of his parents’ house dissolved.  Just as Voldemort entered the room cautiously, the scene faded to reveal the Gryffindor Common Room at Hogwarts.  Harry slumped down heavily into an armchair and asked, “How do we chase that Dementor down and capture it.  It can keep moving between us and infecting us, until one of us makes a mistake and it kills us.  I think that if one of us falls, that all of us would fall.  We’d all end up like Dean.”

 

           “Harry, I think that one of us will have to be bait,” Luna said.  “We’ll have to try to draw it into one of us.  I think that one of us should sham being comatose and try to draw it in, while the other two lurk out of sight.”

 

             Harry thought for a moment before replying, “Don’t you think it would know that we’re faking?  It can feel the power moving between us, just like I can feel it when power leaves us to it, or returns from it to us.”

 

             Ginny interrupted, “Harry, it would work if the person who acted as bait gave their strength to the other two.  That would weaken the bait enough to make it believable to the Dementor and draw it in.”

 

            Harry met their eyes, one after the other, then said, “Alright, I’ll give you both my strength and you can jump the Dementor when it appears.  I’ll use the memory of my parents’ house again and try to draw it in that way.”

 

           “No way, Harry!” shouted Ginny.  “I’ll use my memory of the Chamber of Secrets to draw it in again.  You’re the best at Defence of the Dark Arts, you’ve got to be the one to fight it, and Luna can help.”

 

           Harry stood and started to retort, but stopped in awe at what he saw.  Luna began to glow with the Enveloping Patronus Charm, just like she had at Fred’s wake.  Before Harry could react, Luna closed the space between them, lingering for just an instant with her shining lips on his, before she entered his body.

 

            Harry felt a strong jolt of emotion as Luna entered his body.  He felt all of her faith that things would work out.  He felt Luna concentrating on sending out all of her happy memories into him.  Flashes of Luna as a baby, giggling at her father, flashes of all the times Luna spent with Harry.  Harry could feel himself filling with all of Luna’s strength and happiness.  He felt stronger than he ever had, and unconsciously, he began to pass some of that strength on to Ginny.  He tried to pass strength on to Dean, but was blocked by Luna.  He had forgotten that he had no connection to Dean.  The only way to pass strength on to Dean was to pass it through Luna.  Desperately, Harry pushed back with his mind, trying to use his new-found strength to push Luna back out, but found himself unable to.

 

               Finally, Luna passed from his body and disappeared from Harry’s soulscape.  He could see her collapse in the hospital room as if from a distance and he could see her bestiary soulscape in double exposure superimposed over the hospital room.  Her soulscape darkened as clouds passed over the new moon and obscured what little light came from it.  A cold, grey mist rolled in across the bestiary.

 

                Harry reached out, grabbed Ginny’s hand and said, “We’ve got to hurry, she gave us almost all of her strength and happiness.  If the Dementor gets to her first, it will drain off all the rest of her happy memories and just leave her a shell.”

 

              Ginny nodded her agreement, took Harry by his other hand and said, “I’m ready.”

 

               They both went through the portrait hole and left Harry’s soulscape for Luna’s.


	14. Luna's Worst Memory

            Harry and Ginny entered the darkened bestiary cautiously.  Wind whipped cold rain into their faces.  Ginny illuminated her wand tip, but the glow barely reached ten feet around them.  Harry did the same with his wand, but even his added illumination did not pierce the murky darkness.  Harry looked down to make sure that he could still see the cords connecting them.

 

            “Harry, can you see the cords?” Ginny asked nervously.

 

            “Yeah, I can see—,” he started to say, but stopped as he fell to his knees, gasping for breath.  As he watched, two large pulses traveled from the cord in his chest that connected him to Luna, lost somewhere in the bestiary.  Harry concentrated, picturing a bank vault surrounding Ginny, and spared her being drained as well.

 

            Harry stood with an effort, gratefully grabbing Ginny’s hand.  

 

          “The Dementor’s with her right now and it’s doing something to drain her,” Harry said.  “I can feel Luna resisting, but she’s weak right now.”

 

          Harry grabbed Ginny’s hand and they ran, throwing all caution aside as they traversed the darkened soulscape.  Ginny suddenly fell, screaming in agony, her hand ripped from Harry’s. Harry saw Ginny’s wand flash by him before it went dark and was lost to the murky darkness.   Harry’s momentum carried him on a few more steps before he could wheel around.  He ran back to where Ginny lay on the ground, with her leg bent back at an impossible angle and blood beginning to pool underneath her.  

 

          Ginny shrieked in pain, her face contorted with rage as she screamed, “That damned thing put a cinder block in the road!”  She gritted her teeth, wiped her eyes and screamed again as Harry lifted the hem of her robes to get a better look at her leg.  

 

          Harry flinched back when he saw the white tip of bone sticking through the skin, blood flowing quickly down the leg to join the crimson pool below.  

          Harry said, “I’m sorry, Ginny,” as he pointed his wand at her and said, “ _Stupefy._ ”  He sat down for a moment, gathered his thoughts and calmed himself before pointing his wand at Ginny’s leg.  “ _Episkey,_ ” he intoned, waving his wand in what he hoped was the correct manner, relying on fuzzy memories from when Tonks fixed his nose on the Hogwarts Express.  His shoulders visibly relaxed when he saw the tip of bone retreat beneath the skin and her leg straighten.  The wound where the bone had burst through still oozed blood slowly.  Harry ripped off the hem of his robes, and bound them around Ginny’s leg in a makeshift bandage before he awakened her with an Awakening charm.

 

          Ginny groaned groggily and looked at Harry in confusion.  “Why did you stun me?” she asked.

 

          Harry answered, “I knew it would be painful when I tried to mend your leg and I wanted to spare you the pain.”

 

          Harry stood, offered his hand to Ginny and helped her stand.  Ginny gingerly took a few steps, cursing under her breath at the pain.  

 

          Harry pointed his wand in the direction that Ginny’s wand had whipped passed him and said, “ _Accio wand.”_   Ginny’s wand flew into his hand.  Harry handed Ginny her wand, which she took gratefully.  Ginny relit her wand, took Harry’s hand again, and together they made their way more cautiously down the path.  

 

          The wind whipped up suddenly, sending leaves twirling off the trees onto the path, almost completely obscuring it.  Harry paused, checked the cord connecting him to Luna again, and he and Ginny set off again down the leaf strewn path.  Suddenly, Ginny shouted, “Stop, Harry!”

 

          Harry stopped in his tracks, and looked at Ginny curiously.

 

          “Look at the leaves on the path, Harry,” she said.

 

          Harry took a closer look at the leaves covering the path and noticed what Ginny had seen:  The leaves were all aligned one direction, and there seemed to be something binding them together.  Harry pushed Ginny back a few steps, then stepped back himself, before blasting the leaves with his wand, “ _Reducto._ ”  The leaves exploded into the air, revealing a thirty foot pit with a growling, tiger-like monster in it.  Harry looked at the strange beast and shook his head, wondering at Luna’s imagination.  The beast had a tiger’s body, six monitor lizard-like legs, and large tusks that jutted out from behind its eyes.  As he leaned over the edge, the beast hunched up and leapt at him, swiping with a taloned foot, just barely missing Harry’s head.  Harry lurched back from the pit, now unsure if the beast could leap out.

 

           He grabbed Ginny’s hand again and they skirted the pit cautiously, listening to the fierce growling.  When they reached the other side of the pit, the house that Luna shared with her father arose suddenly from the mist.  Harry looked and saw the cord that connected him to Luna went into the building through its open front door.  Harry and Luna approached the rook-shaped building cautiously, wands out and ready.  As they approached, Harry noticed that the gardens were well-tended and flourishing, and that the tower was scrupulously clean and neat.

 

           They entered the tower through its open door and immediately the smell of sandalwood incense mixed with patchouli assaulted their noses.  As they entered the kitchen, the door slammed behind them, and a scene from Luna’s memory began to come into focus.  The kitchen looked different than Harry remembered it, and it took him a moment to realise the difference:  The bright, primary coloured nature paintings that had adorned all of the surfaces in the kitchen weren’t there.  Harry assumed that they had gone deep into Luna’s childhood memories, to a time before the paintings existed.  

 

          Harry and Ginny watched, fascinated as the scene suddenly snapped into focus. The cord that connected him to Luna terminated just short of a beautiful, honey-blond woman of indeterminate middle-age who sat at the table, quill in hand, tapping it gently on the table.  Harry assumed it that the woman was Luna’s mother.  She seemed deep in thought for a moment.  Suddenly, she tossed the quill in the air, flipped it end over end, then she caught the quill out of mid-air and started writing furiously on the parchment spread on the table.  Harry moved a little so he could make out some of the words on the parchment.  He stared amazed at the beautiful, gracefully looped penmanship.

 

          Harry read:  …memories.  _The Dementors seem able to pluck the happy thoughts directly out of our heads and feed on them in some manner.  Why then do the happy memories from a Patronus Charm scare them?  Why would they not merely absorb the Patronus and grow stronger?  I theorise that the Patronus Charm is too concentrated for the Dementor to absorb.  I believe that if the Enveloping Patronus Charm had not been lost when Gren the Younger perished at the hand of Grindelwald that we today would not face the scourge of Dementors guarding our prisons.  It is cruel that a society that bans capital punishment would sentence our criminals to a slow, torturous death by Dementor, for death is what it is when your mind is slowly drained of all happiness, all rational thought, and all joy._

_I believe that I have found the correct path to redevelop the Enveloping Patronus Charm, and I am preparing to try it in the next few days.  If it should go wrong, I want my notes to go to the Department of Mysteries, where they may be able to find where I went wrong.  If I succeed, we no longer need fear Dementors, and I would propose that we find some other way to treat our prisoners at Azkaban._

          Harry looked at the staircase when he saw a shape coming down the metal stairs.  He watched as Luna, aged about eight, walked down the staircase, dressed in pyjamas with cartoon bears on them.  Luna walked over to the sink, grabbed a glass from the dish drainer next to the sink, and filled it.  She skipped over to her mother, sloshing water over the edge of the glass as she skipped.  Her mother looked up from her writing and smiled.  She stood, moved quickly over to where Luna stood, drinking from her glass and scooped her up.  She hugged Luna tightly to her chest, jumping slightly as Luna spilled water down her back.  She kissed Luna wetly on her forehead, put her back on her feet and swatted her bum gently, obviously urging her to go back to bed.

 

          Harry could see Luna’s mouth move, but he could not hear anything.  He only now noticed the odd, cottony silence that pervaded the scene.  As he watched, Luna stamped her feet petulantly and started to cry.  Luna’s mother picked Luna up again and carried her up the stairs out of sight.  As Harry and Ginny started to follow, the scene faded to black and another scene started in the kitchen.  

 

           The scene looked much the same as the first:  Luna’s mother sitting at the table with quill in hand and parchment on the table.  Luna’s mother finished writing on the parchment, powdered the ink so it would not smear, then folded the parchment and stuffed it in an envelope.  Harry moved a little until he could see that the envelope was addressed to, “ _Xenophilius, my love_ ”.  She reached under her robes and pulled out a necklace strung with ivory beads and put it over her robes, stroking it gently as she did.

 

          Harry turned as he again as he again caught movement out of the corner of his eye.  He turned and saw Luna, again dressed in her bear pyjamas, watching from the staircase.  Luna lay draped over one stair, near where it disappeared into the dark ceiling, and watched her mother curiously.  

 

          Luna’s mother stood and pulled her wand from behind her ear.  Harry could see her concentrate as she waved her wand in the pattern used for the Patronus Charm.  Harry again saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned just in time to see Luna fall from her precarious perch on the stair.  Luna’s mother obviously saw this too, as she stopped her Charm in mid-wand wave and instead pointed her wand at Luna.  Bright silvery gas shot from the wand, enveloping her mother’s head.  She gasped involuntarily, inhaling some of the gas.  At the same time, a pillow appeared under Luna’s falling form, cushioning her fall.  Harry could see Luna giggle as she climbed off of the pillow.

 

          Luna’s mother struggled to breathe, but the silvery gas clung to her head and prevented her.  Luna noticed her mother struggling and ran to her.  She grabbed her mother by the leg and started shaking her.  Her mother looked down at Luna helplessly and mouthed, “I love you.”  She began to turn blue.  Harry moved to help, but found that like in a memory in a Pensieve, he had no true form here.  Ginny stood horrified as they watched Luna’s mother stumble and catch her necklace on a bust of Merlin that stood on the kitchen counter.  Finally after what seemed an eternity, she fell, the necklace holding her up for just a moment before it shattered and sent ivory beads flying.  Harry noticed that one of them landed in the shrieking Luna’s hair.  

 

         Harry felt the cord connecting him to Luna pulse again and could feel strength leaving him.  He stumbled a bit, leaning on Ginny for support.  Ginny called out as Harry put weight on her injured leg and they both fell to the ground in a heap.  As they struggled to stand, the scene started over again with Luna’s mother writing her treatise.

 

          Harry spoke, “Ginny, I think the Dementor is trying to weaken her by forcing her to relive her most painful memory.”

 

          Ginny asked, “But why?  I thought that Dementors fed on happy memories, and left their victims with only bad memories.”

 

           Harry answered, “I—I think that this Dementor can feed on both happy and bad memories.  I think this might be the same Dementor that tried to stop me before I went down to the forest to fight Voldemort.  I could feel how much it hated me.  I think that whatever Voldemort did to communicate with them and understand them, that whatever he did changed the Dementors.”

 

          Ginny spoke again, in a quiet voice, “Harry, we need to stop this cycle of memories, or Luna will be drained, just like Dean, and we’d follow pretty quickly after that.”

 

          Harry turned to Ginny, grabbed both of her hands and gave her a gentle kiss before speaking, “Ginny, I’m going to try to replace this memory with a happy one that Luna and I shared.  It might hurt you to watch this, but I think it’s the best chance for Luna to survive.”

 

           Harry sat down, closed his eyes, reached into his robes and grabbed the ivory bead that he knew was there and began to rub it.  He opened the connection between him and Luna.  He could feel her anger and sadness at the terrible death of her mother.  He pushed that to one side and began to form an image in his mind.  He pictured Luna as he had seen her just the night before in his dreams.  He pushed the image of himself and Luna in Ron’s bedroom into the kitchen. 

 

           Ginny watched as the scene changed to Ron’s bedroom.  She saw Harry sleeping in his bed in Ron’s room, tossing as if a bad dream chased him.  She saw Ron sleeping in his bed, mouth moving silently as he snored.  A glimmer of light came from the hallway as Luna snuck into the room, dressed in her school robes.  She watched as Luna closed the door and crept into bed next to Harry.  Tears flowed gently from her eyes as she watched Harry and Luna share their passion.  She closed her eyes, but only left them shut for a brief few seconds before she reopened them, determined to see the truth.  

 

           She continued watching as their passion built, and then suddenly they stopped and looked over toward Ron.  Ginny turned and watched as Ron turned, flipped over, mouthed something that ended in, “Hermione,” and fell back asleep.

 

           She turned her attention back to Harry and Luna.  They both clung to each other, laughing gently.  Harry turned to look into Luna’s eyes and Ginny could see that Harry was lost to her forever.  Harry and Luna’s passion intensified and they began to disrobe.  Ginny resolutely turned her back then, not wanting to see the final act.

 

          Harry concentrated on his memories, one part of him glad that Ginny had seen how much he loved Luna, and the other part wishing that he could have spared her this pain.  A single crystal tear fell from his eye as he pushed that thought aside and kept focusing on his memories.  

 

            Luna began to glow, her silvery shine illuminating the bedroom eerily.  Ginny turned to see what caused the glow and watched as Luna bent over Harry to kiss him.  She watched horrified as silvery threads flowed from Harry’s mouth into Luna’s.  Harry gasped and struggled for a moment and started to shove Luna off.  Luna began to pull back.

 

           Sitting on the floor, concentrating on his memory, Harry began to reshape it.  He knew that the love he had shared with Luna was just a dream, and he could reinterpret it, shape it to his whim.  He forced himself in the dream not to pull back from Luna.

 

           Ginny continued to watch as Harry moved his hands behind Luna’s head again and pulled her mouth down to his.  The silvery threads intensified and their bodies moved in rhythm.  Ginny could feel strength returning to her and turned to Harry, sitting on the floor, rolling an ivory bead between his fingers and breathing deeply as he concentrated.

 

           She turned back just in time to see Luna roll off Harry and pull the covers up over them both.  Luna snuggled her head into the crook of Harry’s neck and whispered something into his ear.  Harry nodded happily and kissed Luna on the crown of her head.

 

            Ron’s bedroom disappeared with a crash and the kitchen tower reappeared around them.  Harry focused with his newly gained strength and forced Ron’s bedroom to appear again. 

 

            In the brief interval between the kitchen disappearing and Ron’s bedroom reappearing, Ginny saw Luna.  Luna lay motionless on a block of stone, the Dementor with its mouth pressed up near hers.  Ginny concentrated and tried to see past the memory of Harry and Luna, but she couldn’t clearly see the Dementor.  She turned to where Harry sat and shouted at him, “Harry, we need to get rid of all the memories.  The Dementor is hiding itself among the memories.”

 

           Harry nodded imperceptibly and started concentrating on smothering the Dementor’s control of Luna’s memories.  Sweat stood out on his forehead as he strained with effort.  Slowly, Ron’s bedroom dissolved and the kitchen appeared, fuzzily, out of focus.  Harry pushed the kitchen firmly to one side and the Dementor appeared, hovering over Luna’s body.  Harry opened his eyes and stood.

 

           Ginny and Harry reacted in the same instant, and both cried, “ _Expecto Patronum!”_ Harry’s stag bounded from his wand and began savaging the Dementor with Ginny’s horse Patronus at its side.  The Dementor hunched up its body defensively, as Harry’s stag and Ginny’s horse threw inky black and silvery sparks off its body with their attacks.  It pressed its mouth all the way down on Luna’s and attempted to force its way inside.  Harry noticed the Dementor shrinking as it pushed its way inside Luna.  Harry shouted for Ginny to continue to keep her Patronus on the Dementor.  

 

           Harry let his Patronus dissipate and ran to Luna.  He reached down with his left hand and forced the ivory bead in between the Dementor’s mouth and Luna’s mouth.  Immediately, he could feel the Dementor stop deflating.  The Dementor turned its face to Harry as it hunched, absorbing blows from Ginny’s Patronus.  It howled at Harry and pushed its mouth over Harry’s.  

 

            Harry let his mind fill with the Enveloping Patronus charm.  He forced his stag Patronus to remain within himself.  As he did, he felt his father’s presence, helping to protect him.  The Dementor pulled back from Harry as he began to glow and attempted to flee.  

   
   
           “No you don’t,” Harry said, grabbing the Dementor’s cloak with his glowing hand.  Where Harry touched the Dementor, it began to dissolve into noxious green gas.  The Dementor howled again, its eerie voice echoing.  Harry stashed his wand in his pocket and grabbed the Dementor with his other hand, enveloping the Dementor in a bear hug.  Harry could feel both icy cold patches and burning hot patches as the Dementor dissolved against his glowing body.  The Dementor’s howl increased in fury and volume as it tried to escape Harry’s iron grasp.  

 

           As it howled this time, answering howls came from the enclosures around them.  Harry looked down and saw that Luna had awakened and saw understanding in her eyes.  Harry kept his hug on the struggling Dementor, his strength redoubled by seeing Luna awake.  The howling of the animals in the bestiary grew louder as the Dementor’s howls continued.  Harry looked down at Luna again and noticed her motioning him let the Dementor go.  

 

           “No!” he shouted.  “We can’t let it escape again!”

 

           Luna began to glow and gestured around her.  Harry looked up in wonder.  All of the animals in the bestiary surrounded them, Ginny’s flaming hair barely visible amongst all of them.  As Harry watched, the animals all began glowing with the Enveloping Patronus charm.  Harry let go and stepped back as the ravening, Patronus clad animals fell upon the Dementor.  It tried to escape by flying up, but a glowing phoenix harried it down, back into the waiting pack.  

 

           The Dementor’s shrieking continued for only a few seconds more.  As it died, Harry could see the glow surrounding Luna and the animals intensify until it became painful to watch.  Harry averted his eyes and blinked.  When he reopened them, he could still see the cord connecting him with Luna and the smaller one connecting him to Ginny.  

 

           “Harry, we need to hurry, I think Dean’s slipping away,” Luna said wearily.  She sat down and closed her eyes.  Harry could feel her trying to separate out Dean’s consciousness from hers and Harry’s and all the other victims of the Dementor from the past.  Dean’s consciousness felt strangely mixed with all of the others and Harry struggled to help her, closing his eyes and concentrating with Luna.  As they separated out a large chunk of Dean, Luna attempted to send it down the cord connecting her to Dean.  Harry felt the lurch as the lump of power stopped, something blocking it.

 

          “Luna, it’s the wards on the quarantine chamber in the hospital,” Harry said.  “We’ve got to get back to the hospital and out of the quarantine chamber.”

 

           Luna nodded, held out her hand to Harry and stood with his help.  They both went to Ginny, and took her hands in theirs.  Harry and Luna closed their eyes and pushed, pushing their consciousness back into the hospital room.  

 

           Both Healers slept still in their patient’s beds, oblivious to the world around them.  Harry pointed his wand at the blackened window to the room and shouted, “ _Reducto!”_   The spell hit the glass, then rebounded onto the wall behind them, ricocheting crazily until it blasted a bedside table into flinders.  

 

          Ginny shrieked at Harry, “Don’t do that again!  These rooms are designed to house the insane and the contagious, they’re reinforced against escape.”  She rifled through the matronly Healer’s pockets, coming up with an oddly shaped key.  She moved to the door and unlocked it with the key.  She looked up at Harry smugly as Harry and Luna ran through the door, hospital gowns flapping in the breeze of their passage.  When they had passed through, Ginny followed them, closing the door behind her.

 

           They quickly got their bearings and raced to the closed ward.  A sallow-faced, wizened old woman of a Healer sat at the door.  As they ran up, wands out, she stood, pulled out her own wand, cursed and said, “Stop right there.  This is a restricted area.  We’ve already had one escape this week; they don’t need any more help.”

 

           Harry spoke first, “We don’t want to hurt you. We just need you to open the door.  One of our friends is about to die, unless we save him.”

 

           The Healer answered him, “Boy, you’ve got some nerve.  How could you possibly know that your friend’s about to die?”

 

          In answer to her question, Dean appeared on the other side of the glass, staggering toward them, barely able to stand.  Luna ran to the glass and pressed against it.  The Healer turned and saw Dean.  She moved faster than Harry thought possible for a woman of her age and opened the door.  Harry grabbed Luna and rushed passed her into the room, with Ginny on their heels.  

 

           The Healer reached Dean first and laid him gently on the floor.  She started checking him over.  Harry reached down and pulled the Healer gently aside as Luna began to glow.  Luna knelt down beside Dean and pressed her mouth to his.  Harry could feel the strength leaving Luna and returning to Dean.  Harry could feel Dean’s body absorbing all of its old strength back.  Even after Luna stopped pushing, Dean kept pulling strength from Luna.  Harry could feel Luna begin to weaken and pushed his own strength into her, touching her gently on her hair as he did.  

 

            Ginny knelt down on the other side of Dean and grabbed his hand as Luna continued to kiss him.  Harry felt a lurch as the bond that connected him to Ginny disappeared.  Harry closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment, then reopened them.  He reached out with newly awakened senses and smiled as he felt a bond start to begin between Ginny and Dean.  He could feel Dean gaining strength not only from Dean’s returning memories, but through Luna’s memories of Dean and Ginny’s memories of Dean.  

 

           Luna stopped glowing suddenly.  Dean coughed and twitched, his body spasming with a seizure.  He thrashed and shouted for a few seconds, then lay still.  He opened his eyes and looked around with amazement.

 

           Dean spoke, his voice hoarse, “Is this another dream?  Did the Dementor get all of you, too?”

 

           Luna collapsed at his side, her eyes rolling back.  She fell right into Harry’s waiting arms.  Ginny leaned over Dean and hugged his head to her lap.  

 

          “No, Dean,” Ginny said in a near-whisper, “The Dementor is dead, it will never harm anyone again.”

 

            Dean answered, “I—I could feel Luna reach out for power to save you, Ginny.  I could feel her taking it from me, but it wasn’t enough.  I gave her all that I had.  I’m so glad to see you alive, glad to see it wasn’t in vain.”  He turned to Harry, “Thanks for saving me from the Dementor, Harry.  When Luna wakes up, thank her for me for saving Ginny.”

 

          A team of Healers, flanked by burly orderlies entered the room, all with wands out, pointed at the group.  

 

          The big orderly that had refused permission for Harry to queue jump the previous day said, “Put all your wands down, now.”

 

          Harry dropped his wand, reached into Luna’s robes, grabbed Hermione’s borrowed wand and dropped it as well.  Ginny threw her wand next to Harry’s and Hermione’s.  

 

           The Healers approached the group cautiously, an orderly standing beside each of them.  The quickly checked over the group and consulted each other briefly, before sending them all off to the quarantine room again.  As they Apparated into the room again, Harry noticed that someone had repaired the shattered table and fixed the obscured glass.

 

           “Please, ma’am, what about the Healer that tried to stop us, is he going to be okay?” Harry asked.

 

           The Healer looked down at Harry and said, “He’s got a splitting headache, but we think he’ll be fine.  You just worry about getting better.”

 

 

* * *

 

            One week later, Harry sat in an office with Luna, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Lovegood and a white-haired Healer with an enormous Fu Manchu style beard and mustache.  The Healer spoke, “Your story checks out with your memories, you both seem in remarkable health and we’re ready to release you soon.”

 

           Harry asked, “Please, sir, what about Ginny and Dean?”

 

           The Healer answered, Luna’s eyes twinkling at his flapping mustache as he talked, “We’re all set to release them today.”

 

           Mr. and Mrs. Weasley smiled and grasped each others’ hands more tightly.  

 

          The Healer looked at Luna and said, “We have just a few more tests for you, young lady, and we would like Mr. Potter to stay for those as well.”

 

           Luna tore her gaze from the Healer’s mustache and looked into his eyes, her own eyes blazing with curiosity.

 

           “What sort of additional tests do you need to perform?” she asked.

 

          The Healer looked at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and said, “If you would leave the room, please, so we could discuss this matter in private?”

 

          As they started to rise, Luna said, “No, don’t leave.”  She turned to the Healer and said, “They can stay.  Whatever you have to tell me, I waive my right to confidentiality in the matter.”

 

           The Healer nodded, consulted his notes and said, “Ms. Lovegood, we would like to keep you for some prenatal screening.  Our examinations show that you’re pregnant and are about ten weeks along.  We would like to make sure that both you and the baby are okay, considering your recent ordeal.”  He turned to Harry, “Congratulations, young man, it looks like you’re going to be a father.”

 

          Harry spluttered, “But, I, we.  We’ve never had sex, not in real life, only in shared dreams.”

 

          The Healer turned to Luna, “Is the Thomas boy the father then?”

 

          Luna shook her head imperceptibly and spoke in a small, scared voice, “No, I’ve never had sex with anyone.  I’ve only shared that with Harry in a dream.  I don’t know how this happened.”

 

             The Healer thought for a moment, consulted his notes again, then he steepled his hands before he said, “In that case, Ms. Lovegood, we should like to keep you for observation for the entire length of your pregnancy.  Mysterious pregnancies like this are extremely rare, but not unheard of.  If you would be so kind as to consent, it would save the trouble and expense of obtaining a court order.”

 

            Luna looked at her father, who had turned purple and started to rise, and spoke gently to him, “It’s okay, Daddy.  I want to stay and make sure that my baby and I aren’t a danger to anyone.”

 

          Mr. Lovegood looked down at his daughter and slowly regained his composure, “If you think that’s for the best, then I’ll do anything to support you.”  He looked at Harry, “If this baby is yours, will you do the honourable thing?”

 

          Harry looked at Mr. Lovegood, then he turned to Luna with a questioning glance.  She nodded at him as her eyes filled with joyous tears.

 

            Harry turned back to Mr. Lovegood and said, “Sir, we’d already agreed to get married.  I love Luna.  She and I have a connection that goes deeper than any connection either of us has felt before.  We were just waiting until we got out of hospital to make the announcement.”

 

             Mrs. Weasley stood and moved to Harry, tears streaming down her cheeks as she kissed him.  She put a hand on either side of his face and spoke directly to him, “I always thought that you’d marry Ginny, but I’m happy for you and Luna, Harry.  I can see how much she means to you, and you have my blessing, for what it’s worth.”

 

           Mr. Lovegood stood next to Harry and extended his hand.  Harry grasped it and shook it heartily.  Mr. Lovegood said, “It’ll be good to have you as a son-in-law, Harry.”  

 

           Harry broke free of Mrs. Weasley, shook Mr. Weasley’s hand quickly and went to his new fiancée.  He grabbed her hands and helped her stand in front of him.  

 

          “I love you, Luna,” he said, simply.

 

          She answered, “I love you, too, Harry.”

 

 

 


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue

            Harry looked up eagerly from his potions book as his door opened, his face falling when he saw Conner.  Harry sat up a bit straighter in his bed as Conner sat down in the chair next to him, his Auror’s robes rustling as he got comfortable on the hard hospital chair.

 

            “Harry, I’ve got some good news and some bad news,” Conner said in his thick Scottish burr.

 

            Harry sighed, already having heard the bad news from Mr. Weasley, then said, “I’ve already heard the news that you’re not going to accept my application to train as an Auror.”

 

            Conner scowled, the creases on his face deepening as he did so.  He looked Harry directly in the eye and said, “Arthur Weasley never could keep his damn mouth shut.  That’s right, son.  I think you’re much too headstrong and impulsive to be an Auror.  You can re-apply in a year, but I’m afraid the answer then will be the same.  As long as I’m in charge of the Aurors, you will never be one.”

 

            Harry’s face fell a bit in disappointment, and he spoke again, his voice husky, “I—I’m not sure that I want to be an Auror anymore, anyway.  When I shared my soul with Luna’s, I changed.  I’ve seen too much death, too much pain:  I need to stay away from it.”

 

            Conner looked at Harry with sympathy and asked, “Would you like to hear the good news?”

 

            Harry looked at Conner with curiosity and said, “Sure.”

 

            Conner pulled a blue sheet of parchment from his robes, exposing his gun to Harry’s sight as he did.  Conner looked the parchment over briefly then told Harry, “Healers MacDougal and Smithson have declined to press assault charges against you for your actions in the quarantine ward.  They feel that you were under duress and not completely in control of your faculties.  They also feel that without your actions that Mr. Thomas would have died.”

 

            Conner stood, extended his hand for Harry to shake and said, “Look, Harry, I like you.  I was a lot like you as a boy, impulsive and reckless.  You’ve got to take a hard look at yourself, especially with a baby on the way.  You’ve got to learn how to think a problem through before tackling it.  Your friend Ms. Granger might be able to help you here; she seems to have a solid head on her shoulders.  Harry, I wish you well in whatever you decide to do with your life.”

 

            Harry leaned forward in his bed, shook Conner’s hand and said simply, “Thank you, sir.”

 

            Conner left without saying another word.

 

            Harry leaned back on his bed again, closed his eyes and opened his mind, “ _Did you catch all of that, Luna?”_

_“Yes, I did,”_ came Luna’s thought back at Harry.  “ _What do you want to do for work?”_

_“I’ll think about that when we both finish school.  You’re sure that you want to move into Grimmauld place?”_ Harry asked.

 

            Luna answered, “ _I can’t go back to Hogwarts with a baby, Harry.  I think it’s best that we both finish up by correspondence.  Besides, Conner’s right, Hermione and I will sort you out.”_

Harry shut his mind, closing out Luna’s comforting, braying laughter.

 

 

* * *

 

            Ron sat on his bed; Hermione snuggled up close beside him.

            

          A comfortable silence filled the room for a moment as they enjoyed leaning on each other.  Ron broke the silence, “Have you noticed that sometimes when you’re in the room with Harry and Luna, that they seem to be having some private mental conversation.  Sometimes you have to repeat yourself, like they were listening to something or someone else.”  

 

          Hermione said, “I think they are, Ron.  Somehow, something connected them together.  Harry told me that he thought it was the Dementor that caused the connection somehow in the first place, but now the connection between them is there all the time.”

 

          “I was just getting used to the idea of Harry with Ginny.  It’s weird seeing Ginny back with Dean and seeing Harry with Loony Lovegood is so hard,” Ron said.

 

          Hermione said sternly, “Don’t call her Loony, her name’s Luna.  She stood with us in the Department of Mysteries, she was a member of the DA and she helped fight off the Death Eaters at Hogwarts.  She deserves to be treated better than that.”

 

            Ron held up his hands, then added, “Don’t you think it’s weird, the way they—”

 

            Hermione continued, “…finish each other’s sentences?”

 

            “It’s almost like—”

 

            “…they have some psychic connection.”

 

            Ron turned toward Hermione, eyes opened wide, and said, “It’s not happening to us, is it?”

 

            Hermione leaned her face in closer to Ron and told him, “No, Ron, I just know how you think.  For example, right now, you’re thinking that you’d like to kiss me.”

 

            Ron laughed and said, “That’s not what I was thinking at all.”  He twisted his head until he was whispering in her ear.  As he whispered in Hermione’s ear, she grew flushed, turning brighter and brighter scarlet as Ron continued whispering, until finally she grabbed Ron and kissed him fiercely, pushing him down on the bed as she did so.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

            “Enter,” the mustachioed, white-haired Healer said.

 

            His door opened and Healer Smithson entered his office.

 

            “Yes?” asked the Healer, rising from his desk to greet Healer Smithson.

 

            Healer Smithson shuffled some parchment in his hands, then spoke, “All of our tests on Ms. Lovegood’s baby show no anomalies.  Both mother and baby seem to be in perfect health.  Given the unusual method of conception, we also tested for psychic diseases and scarring, but the baby seems to be developing normally.”

 

            The white-haired healer held out his hands for the parchment.  Healer Smithson handed the parchment over and waited nervously while his boss read them over.  

 

            The white haired Healer asked, “What about the results of the amniocentesis that I ordered done?”

 

            Healer Smithson answered, “We haven’t received the results from the Muggle lab yet.  We’re hoping that it will come in today.”  He looked down, then looked up and met the eyes of his boss and asked, “Please, sir, why would you involve Muggle doctors in this?  Surely we’re better equipped to test for this type of thing.”

 

            The white-haired Healer narrowed his eyes and spoke curtly, “Don’t think that Muggles are stupid.  In some ways, their medicine is much more advanced than ours.  They can detect genetic diseases that we can only guess at.  Also, don’t call me ‘Shirley’.”

 

            They both laughed with fake forced laughter.

 

 

* * *

 

                      Harry and Luna sat in the waiting area, looking into each other’s eyes.  The secretary looked up at them nervously, sure that they were having some deep, private conversation behind the screens of their eyes.  She looked down again at her desk as a sigil began glowing red on it.

 

            She spoke in a quiet voice, “The Healer will see you now.”

 

            After Harry and Luna entered the Chief Healer’s office, the secretary breathed a sigh of relief.  

 

            Harry and Luna sat in the Chief Healer’s office and waited for him to speak.  

 

            The Chief Healer started to speak, but Luna interrupted, “You shaved your mustache and beard, why?”

 

            The Healer stroked his face where his mustache and beard had been before answering, “My wife made me do it.  She said it was silly and not at all fitting for a Healer of my stature.”  He pulled out a mirror and his wand.  He pointed his wand at his face in the mirror and said, “ _Barba Engorgio.”_ The mustache and beard grew back to their former magnificence instantly.  

 

            He winked at Luna and then said, “I’ve just got to remember to shave again before I return home.”

 

            He consulted his notes again before speaking, “Ms. Lovegood—”

 

            Luna interrupted him, “It’s Mrs. Potter now; we got married yesterday in the hospital chapel.”

 

            A broad smile emerged slowly on the Chief Healer’s face then he said, “Well, then, Mrs. Potter, your baby is fine.  There are just a few things that we’re concerned about.”

 

             He paused and watched for a second as Harry moved his hand over Luna’s bulging stomach.

 

            The Chief Healer continued, Luna staring at his mustache, “We sent blood samples away quite some time ago and just received the results today.  We had to perform quite a few memory charms on the poor Muggle lab technicians.”

 

            He chuckled a moment before resuming, “The blood work was fascinating.  Your baby’s genetic profile shows three parents.”  He looked at both of them as they stared at him blankly.

            

            “What that means,” he said in a lecturing tone, “is that your little baby girl has an extra donor to her genetic makeup.  The baby’s genetic profile shows Harry as the father, and you as the mother, Luna.  But there’s a third donor that’s as yet unidentified.  We tried matching it against Mr. Thomas, and even Ms. Weasley, in hopes that it might be a cloned donation, but it doesn’t match either of them.  Based on what you both said happened in your ‘soulscapes’, we believe that the other donor could be the Dementor.”

 

            Luna asked, concern in her voice, “What does that mean for my baby?”

 

            Harry leaned over and gripped her hand tightly as the Healer answered, “I don’t know.  All we can say at this point is that it doesn’t seem to have had any effect on the baby’s development except for accelerating the gestation period by ten weeks.”

 

            The Healer kept speaking, holding up a hand to stop Harry as Harry began to ask a question, “We have another concern.  With the way that the baby was conceived, we are worried that you may not be able to have it naturally, Ms, umm, Mrs. Potter.  We think that you may need a Caesarean section to have the baby.  We would like to start the necessary paper work for permission to do so, if needed.”

 

            Luna nodded, pulled a quill and ink from her robe pocket, and said, “I’ll do whatever’s necessary to ensure the health of my baby.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

            
            Harry paced, nervous energy radiating from him.  Ron looked up at him and said, “Please, Harry sit down, you’re making me spare.”

 

            Harry turned to his friend, sitting there placidly, holding Hermione’s hand and shouted, “It’s easy for you to relax; it’s not your wife having a baby!”

 

            Harry looked down at his watch and said, “What’s taking so long?”

 

            Hermione held up her hands placatingly and said, “Harry, it’s only been three hours, some women are in labour much longer than that.”

 

            Harry looked angrily at Hermione and said, “I know that, Hermione, but they were going to do a C-section.  It shouldn’t take this long.”

 

            The operating theatre door opened and a nurse ran out, evading Harry as he started to question her.  She returned a few minutes later with what appeared to be a confused Muggle surgeon dressed in surgical scrubs following her.  

 

            Harry paced more, his steps growing more staccato, sweat standing out on his brow.  Hermione stood to comfort him, when suddenly, Harry collapsed and fell to the ground, blood starting to pool from his stomach.  

 

            Hermione moved quickly, ripping open Harry’s robes and staunching the blood flow with her wand.  She rummaged around in her bag, reaching her hand all the way in to the elbow, pulled out a Restorative Draught and forced Harry to drink it.  Harry awoke groggily and tried to stand.  

 

            “No you don’t, Harry,” Hermione said.  “You’re going to stay right here until Ron returns with a Healer.”

 

            Ron came into the room with a Healer in tow, just as the operating theatre door opened again and the Healers came out, towing a wide-eyed, blood-covered Muggle surgeon.

 

            “Magic sutures,” the Muggle gibbered, as the nurse led him away with the promise of whiskey.

 

            The Chief Healer knelt over Harry and checked him over thoroughly before saying, “Congratulations, Mr. Potter, it’s a beautiful little girl.”

 

            Harry spoke, pain and worry causing his voice to crack, “Luna?”

 

            The Chief Healer answered, “We ran into complications.  Normally, when we do a magical Caesarean, we can pull the baby right out.  This time, when we did that, it was causing massive internal hemorrhaging.  We gave Restorative Draughts and tried a couple of times, but she was just getting weaker.  Finally, we went to a Muggle hospital and grabbed and obstetric surgeon to perform a Muggle C-section.  We weren’t able to close the incision magically, either, and were forced to use Muggle sutures.  Luna will be okay, but the recovery period will be longer than normal.  We expect her to remain in hospital at least one more week.”

 

            The Healer looked around a moment thoughtfully, then helped Harry rise. He spoke to Harry, “You can go in and see your daughter now, if you wish, but Luna will be under sedation for at least another hour.”

 

            Harry leaned on Ron and Hermione as he went in to see his daughter and wife.

 

           

* * *

 

                       “Harry, I want to name her Delilah, after my mother,” Luna stated.

 

            Harry responded, “I know how much it means to you, Luna.  So it’s okay with me.  I get to name our next two children, though.”  He leaned over the bed and kissed Luna on her brow, being careful not to wake his sleeping daughter.  

 

            As he leaned over, Delilah awakened anyway and stared at Harry with her green eyes.  
 

* * *

 

             
           “Dee’s a freak!  Dee’s a freak!” the little boy yelled at Delilah as she jumped rope in front of Grimmauld Place.  He ran up and shoved her down to the pavement, taking her jump rope.  As she stood up and started to cry, he held the rope over his head and said, “What are you going to do about it, freak?  You gonna go crying home to your daddy, boo hoo?”  He shoved her again.

 

            Delilah’s eyes began to fill with black and her limbs trembled with rage.  The boy saw her shaking and shouted at her, “Aww, look at little Dee, all scared.  Boo!”

 

            Delilah’s eyes completely filled with black.  She stopped shaking and began moving purposefully toward the bully.  The boy lifted his face and looked in her eyes.  He immediately stopped moving, rooted in place in fear.  

 

            Delilah spoke, her voice carrying a weight beyond her years, “I know your fears, Thomas Aquinas O’Malley.  Never bother me again, or this will happen.”

 

            Delilah strode forward until her nose was against the boy’s.  He tried to turn his head away, tried to close his eyes, but his muscles locked against him.  Forced to look into Delilah’s eyes, he trembled and tried to cry out, but his jaw wouldn’t open.  

 

            Finally, Delilah looked away, the black in her eyes retreating.  As her eyes filled with green, the boy recovered and ran off blubbering for his Mummy.  Delilah looked around confused at her skinned knees and jump rope.  She grabbed her jump rope off the ground and went back into the house to have her knees tended to.

 

            “ _Daddy always makes me feel better.  I feel so happy when he’s around, but he’s always so tired lately.”_

 

* * *

           

                       Delilah pulled Gideon closer, their gangly adolescent bodies pressed against each other as they sat on the bench.

 

            Gideon reached his hand behind the bench and began stroking Delilah’s raven tresses.  “You’re sure that your parents won’t be here tonight?”

 

            Delilah turned to Gideon and said, “They won’t be here, they’re in London, holding a fundraiser for the bestiary.”

 

            Gideon rotated his head, looking at all the cages and enclosures.  He read the sign that said the beast behind them was a “Crumple-Horned Snorkack.”

 

            Finally, he spoke, “I still don’t understand why you wanted to meet here.  When it’s dark like this, and the zoo’s empty, all of these animals are creepy.  I can feel them watching us.”

 

            Delilah looked around at the animals, most of them sleeping and said, “They’re not creepy at all.  They comfort me; they let me know that there is some good in the world.  Besides, the Pygmy Puffs are cute.” 

 

            She leaned in closer to Gideon and put her head on his shoulder.

 

            Gideon turned his head and their lips met.  Delilah shifted and pulled him tighter, putting her hand behind his head.  As they kissed, Gideon closed his eyes. He never saw Delilah’s eyes fill with black.  The kiss grew passionate and Gideon tried to pull away, but Delilah held him tight.  Gideon opened his eyes and looked into Delilah’s eyes.  His struggles intensified as he tried to escape.  Inky blackness began to envelop Delilah.  Gideon struggled.  Delilah forced his mouth open and silvery threads began to flow from his mouth into hers.

 

            As Gideon’s body slumped to the ground, his eyes vacant, the Dementor fully enveloped Delilah and glided off into the night, satisfied with its first kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's how I ended it all those years ago, with an immaculate conception and a standard horror ending. I still like the general plot, but it would be so differently written now.


End file.
